Thinking Out Loud
by Keybearer001
Summary: Having arrived in America, Wanda struggles to acclimate to her new life without her brother by her side. In search of peace, Wanda has a chance encounter with an artist who finds solace in the beauty of life. Spending time together, Wanda soon discovers that feelings can be expressed with more than just words.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. Welcome to the reboot of a reboot. For those of you who don't know I previously wrote a story titled "a Moment in the Sunset" a horrible story that to this day makes me wonder what people like about it. As a result I turned to another author to assist with the writing process, who STARTED the story a year ago, but has since ceased all contact with me. As a result i decided to rewrite the story myself.**

**do note that the story will have a heavily revised plot compared to the original, so if you did like "Moment", sorry, but i didn't and you deserve better than that. **

**This chapter is a slightly revised and edited version of "A Different Kind of Speaking", so I will give credit where credit is due, as well as the title being something suggested to me as well.**

**Without further delay, enjoy**

* * *

In upstate New York, the sun was just peaking over the horizon, lighting the sky a brilliant hue of pink and orange, create a rather chaotic contrast with the peaceful glow morning's provided

It was on one such morning a young Sokovian woman by the name of Wanda Maximoff awoke from a fitful sleep. Her eyes blinked slightly, trying a chase away the remnants of her dreamless state. Sadly she would rather have gone back to sleep. Turning over in her bed, she looked at her clock and saw that it wasn't even 5:30 in the morning. Huffing she tried to go back to sleep, but a sudden load crash from the main lobby caused her to jolt in bed followed by several loud jeers and petty threats. Which meant the boys were probably doing something loud in the lobby again. Ughh Did anybody in this building know any semblance of decency?

Knowing that going back to sleep would be impossible due to the fact that the noise wasn't letting up, Wanda decided to get up and grab some breakfast.. she threw off the covers, grabbing an oversized shirt that had been given her after she moved into the compound. Everything Wanda had owned, what little of it, was destroyed when Novi grad had been reduced to meteor sized rubble. All she had now were the black dress she wore during the battle of Sokovia and Natashas red jacket along with a small amount of other amenities.

Hopefully the redheaded avenger was at the compound today. Wanda was hoping to get some shopping so she wouldn't be wearing the same thing every day so that Natasha could help her with that.

Going to her bathroom suite, Wanda took a look at herself in the mirror, noticing the heavy bags under her eyes. After Pietro's death sleep was hard to come by. She was plagued by nightmares of his death constantly and no matter what she tried the dreams clung onto her like a bloodsucking leech and sadly no one could help her. Most of the avengers were unfamiliar to her, or had their own problems to deal with and Wanda didn't want to intrude on them. Then there was Vision who had no experience to draw upon despite his wisdom with the only one she trusted being Clint due to the fact that he reminded her of her own father.

Sadly the man had retired to his family farm after the ordeal with Ultron and she hadn't seen him since.

What a peaceful existence. Wanda would have liked to have such joy but she felt she had a responsibility to the world to due her part before retiring. Unlike Clint she hadn't earned that.

Running her fingers threw her hair Wanda did her best to remove her bedhead, before walking out of her room, being greeted by the sight of Sam and Rhodes playing a video game that Wanda was unfamiliar with but somehow seemed to bring out the inner kid in the two fully grown men before her.

Judging by the banter between the two, it sounded like they were in some sort of competition

"Damn it man you are killing me!" Sam complained looking at the controller in his hands like it would spring to life and do all the work for him. Rhodes just leaned back in his chair, giving the bird themed hero a smirk "Maybe f you spent more time in a real suit instead of that bird costume you'd be able to fly a starfighter Falcon!"

"Bird costume?" Sam retorted "I can fly circles around you!"

Rhodes just chuckled "and yet you still can't managed to hit me in this game" Wanda couldn't help but smile at the banter between the two men. Unlike the other avengers who were serious (or Naïve in Visions case) Rhodes and Sam seemed to have a very relaxed vibe to them. as she made her way into the kitchen, she was greeted by the sight of Natasha, Steve and much to her surprise, Clint al gathered around the kitchen, with Steve cooking some breakfast for everyone. He looked up just as Wanda entered the room. Giving the young girl a smile he greeted her "morning Wanda"

Everyones eyes turned to look at the new arrival, causing Wanda to blush. Here everyone was fully dressed and then there was her dressed in only an oversized T-shirt that wasn't even hers.

"Wanda we didn't here you come in." Sam commented.

Wanda just gave the elder man a smirk "That's because you were busy getting your ass handed to you." she snarked crudely, something her brother would have done. That caused her to flinch unconciousy ad a flash of hurt breezed through Wanda, but she was almost unable to register it for the others were amused by her comment, laughing out loud

"Steve, our little girl jut said a bad language word, Should we wash her mouth out with soap?" Clint asked the sheepish Captain. Steve sighed, returning to the mea he had cooking on the stove "That's what I get for hoping that joke got old."

Wanda on the other hand was confused by Clint's words. "Wash my mouth out with soap? I don't get it."

Steve Natasha and Clint looked at Wanda with shocked wide-eyed expressions, before chuckling lightly amused by Wanda's childlike innocence. "Its and old joke from Steve's time, Natasha explained to the girl. "Parents would threaten to wash their kid's mouth out with soap if they started cursing. Of course it was a much bigger thing back then."

"And nowadays apparently it turns you into a joke if you ask someone to watch their language." Steve retorted, though he had a grin on his face. "As if that's such a bad thing."

'Yeah but it was still funny" Clint said with a laugh remembering the last time the joke was brought up.

Finally understanding where they were coming from, Wanda laughed alongside Clint before noticing the interesting food on Clint and Natasha's plates. "What are you too eating?" she asked pointing at the multiple slices of fluff that populated that dishes.

Clint looked surprised. "Have you never had waffles before?" he asked before biting his tongue as he realized what he said. Sokovia was definitely not America and Wanda certainly didn't have it easy growing up.

"My family didn't have much growing up in Sokovia. Food was this was luxury good." She explained as she made her way to the kitchen table and took a seat. There was barely ever enough food on the table, no matter how much her parents worked, but they did their best to provide for Wanda and Pietro

Natasha silently nodded and gave the girl a soft rub on her back while Steve gave her soft smile. They all they what it was like to grow up in poverty so the idea of having food like this daily still seemed unreal to the Sokovian girl. but seeing as how she was going to be an American citizen for the foreseeable future, Steve decided that it would be best to provide her with some good old fashioned American cooking Steve threw a waffle down on a plate for her as Clint passed down the syrup and butter.

"_Waffles, Butter and Syrup?" _Wanda wondered. _"Do Americans always have such luxuries?" _she asked herself in awe.

Buttering up her waffle, Wanda used her fork to cut off a piece and put it in her mouth. Tasting the fluffy waffle along with the salty butter and sweet syrup was almost too much for her. Unaware to herself, she moaned at the delicious taste and began to take more bites of the waffle, this time much faster than before.

She stopped when she realized that the entire table was staring at her with amused grins. "What? I've never had anything this tasty before." she said with pout as she hung her head in an effort to hide her glowing cheeks.

"That much is obvious." Steve replied with a chuckle.

"Wanda, would you be able to describe the sensation of consuming those… waffles? Without taste buds I'm afraid that avenue of human existence is beyond me." Vision requested though it seemed he was slightly hesitant to do so.

Wanda stumbled, taken off guard by the comment since she didn't have that much experience with Waffles as it was. "Oh umm…. I… I don't know where to begin." She replied sheepishly

"Waffles are waffles." Clint told the Android. "They taste sweet as pie and put a happy feeling in a person."

"That does not adequately describe the sensation." Vision deadpanned unintentionally. That naivety was going to kill him someday

"I know." Clint smirked.

Wanda then turned to Clint, giving him a questioning look "So what are you doing here? Steve told me you retired." Wanda asked. "I mean not that I'm not glad you're here. I'm happy you're here. I just didn't expect it." she followed up quickly, not wanting to offend her friend

Clint just smiled at her. "Just doing a favor for Cap. Then it's back to retirement for me. Laura will need me to go out and pick up some new baby clothes. Nathaniel keeps growing every day it seems." He said, fondly reminiscing about his newly born son

"Speaking of clothes, we should go." Natasha said as she handed her plate back to Steve so he could clean it and stood up to leave. "We should get going soon if we want to get our shopping done today." she told Wanda

Wanda's eyes perked as she heard the work shopping. "Let me finish this and get dressed. Then I'll meet you outside." She hastily wolfed down the rest of her waffle at a breakneck pace to the astonishment of Clint and Steve and then she bolted out of her chair and rushed back into her room to get changed leaving Clint and Steve alone in the kitchen as Vision, Natasha, Sam and Rhodes had left.

"I appreciate you coming down today." Steve said. "With how quiet things have been I feel like this is the best time to."

Clint smiled at his friend. "Hey I don't mind at all. Laura knows I'm done Avenging and she's more than willing to let me come here to help out a friend." He said. Besides, though he would never admit to it aloud, he did owe it to Wanda considering Pietro sacrificed himself for Clint. Wanda deserved a happier life than the one she had been dealt

"You saw the circles under her eyes?" Steve asked.

They were hard to miss. Anyone could have noticed them "Yeah, looks like the girl hasn't been sleeping much." Clint commented. More than that it looked like she wouldn't be able to get much sleep ever again. Having lost her brother and her home within the span of a few hours was traumatic enough, but Wanda was also going through so many changes and she wasn't even a full grown adult

"I think she's been having nightmares about what happened for the last few days. Her life's been completely turned upside down. She could use a little stability." Steve explained.

"Laura, the family and I are more than happy to give her the help she needs. Besides, she grew up in Sokovia. Spending some time in the wilderness away from the hustle of New York might be good for her, give her a chance to reflect and properly grieve." Clint said.

"Well, let's just hope she does it. The last thing she needs right now is to continue beating herself up." Steve replied.

"Amen." Clint agreed, glancing in the direction Wanda had run in. he just hoped that Wanda would actually say yes.

* * *

By Natasha's standards, the trip ended up being a complete success. They had managed to get everything that Wanda needed in terms of clothing, several new casual dresses, all black, a nice form fitting dress for the occasional Stark parties and a few new shoes along with some other amenities. Wanda couldnt believe some of the things Natasha had insisted she buy, not because of the choices in clothing but y the sheer price of it all. It was a good thing that Tony was the one fitting the bill because Wanda would never have been able to afford any of this on her own. That or Natasha swiped some credit cards from people. Though she had to admit, it was ice that Natasha was looking out for her cloths wise, even if some of it was embarrassing.

As the two women walked out of one of the stores in the mall carrying their bags of clothes in both of their hands, Natasha groaned. "We should have called Steve to come with us. That way he could carry everything for us."

Wanda giggled at the mental image of Steve with his arms filled to the brim with their bags of clothing American super soldier. "You torture the poor man."

Natasha smirked. "Yeah but it's fun. He knows I mean nothing malicious by it. Plus with him, he just makes it too easy to make fun of him." Wanda certainly couldn't argue with that given the conversation that they had earlier. Maybe she should get Natasha to tell her about all the times that they made fun of Steve before she arrived in America.

Making it to the food court, both women dropped their bags down and took a seat. Wanda couldn't help but look around the food court. There were so many people e laughing and enjoying themselves. It was al just so foreign to the young girl and she couldn't help but feel out of place. Natasha seemed so at ease, and it bothered Wanda "Can I ask you something?" Wanda spoke to her friend.

"Sure." Natasha responded.

"You're from Russia. How hard was it for you to adjust to things here?" Wanda asked.

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked tilting her head in confusion.

"I mean… things are so different here than Sokovia. The people are so different. The food is different. I mean I didn't even know what Waffles were!" Wanda exclaimed her voice rising in volume at her venting her frustration.

Natasha stifled a small laugh but then she turned her face into a sweet smile and wrapped her hand around Wanda's. "I know how you feel. During my training, they put us through everything they knew about western culture but when I first arrived in the US, I still had to deal with culture shock. It will probably be that way for you as well. But if things get too tough of you need help understanding something new, we're all here for you." she told the young girl

"I just wish some of the boys would tamp down the jokes." Wanda mumbled.

"Wanda, that's going happen for all of us. I guarantee you'll have a few moments where you can mock the boys for the stupid things they do. You did it this morning after all" Natasha joked with a wink. "But if it makes you feel better, I can ask them to tamp down the humor."

"No! No… I don't want them to keep walking on eggshells around me." Wanda jumped in. "Stark has barely spoken to me since I joined the team." Not that it was a bad thing

"He's got his issues and he doesn't have the best track record with being able to process and deal with them properly." Natasha recounted her previous experiences with the former playboy billionaire, remembering that he had self destructive tendencies.

"Do any of us?" Wanda deadpanned causing Natasha to laugh.

"You not entirely wrong." She smirked. "Stark isn't avoiding you because he's scared of you if that's what's on your mind. For all of us, what you did with your powers just happened a few weeks ago. Everyone's just trying to get to know you as a teammate and friend, not an enemy."

"What about you? And the others? They don't seem on edge with me." Wanda asked

"Sam only knows you as an ally, same as Rhodes. Steve sees the good in everyone and Vision is a few weeks old but for me? I'll admit at first I was a but scared of you but now that I know you, I know you're not the monster that Strucker tried to turn you into."

Wanda smiled a small but sincere smile. "Thank you. I really appreciate that."

You are very welcome." She said as she checked her watch. "We should head back soon. The team is planning to have s'mores tonight." She said grabbing her bags

"What are s'mores?" Wanda asked her voice confirming her confusion.

"You poor child." Natasha replied with a laugh.

* * *

Once they returned to the compound, Natasha had the great idea to get the boys to bring their bags up to their rooms in the compound. Steve, being a gentleman was eager to help, Vision was also willing to assist while Rodney and Sam both grumbled and whined the entire way about how was it possible that girls always bought so much clothing.

Do they not understand how girls work? Ladies and Gentleman, these two can face off against killer drones and brainwashed super soldiers, but give them a teenage girl and they were powerless. Do not inform the internet of this.

""How is it possible that Wanda's been in this country less than a few weeks and she already is shopping like a teenage girl?" Sam complained as he attempted to not drop everything he was holding. Beside him, Rhodes could only voice the same sentiment "There are just something the world will never know Sam." He said "Things like this must be hardwired for females." He muttered he abruptly shut his mouth when Natasha turned to look at him with a saucy smirk clearly telling him that she heard that.

Rhodes responded like any man would when faced with the infamous Black widow. He ran like there was no tomorrow.. the duo quickly placed Natasha's bags in her room then hightailed it out of there, not wanting to be in the room for more than a second.

Meanwhile, Wanda and Vision made their way to the young Sokovians room, Vision Wanda's unfortunate victim in carrying the bags, though unlike the other two males Vision seemed content with carrying Wanda's cloths. Steve on the other hand was slightly embarrassed because he felt it was improper to handle woman's clothing. The poor man really needed a reality check since it wasn't like Wanda was duping copius amounts of underwear on him. unfortunately he did have quite a few bags and despite his impressive super strength and skill with a shield, the poor Captain still hadn't managed to figure out how to carry woman's clothing without being indecent and dropped a bag. as all things do, the contents scattered across the floor as the bag tilted on its side.

Vision went down to the ground in order to help her pick up her clothing, which included a few casual dresses and her new leggings that Natasha insisted she buy. As she started putting her clothes back in the bag, Vision grabbed an article of clothing that he hadn't seem before and pulled it up.

"Wanda what are these? I've never seem you wear them." Vision asked in a tone similar to a child asking for their parent or sibling to explain something new to them.

Looking at the article of clothing Vision held up, Wanda blushed a deep red when she saw that he would holding one of the new panties Natasha had bought for her. She quickly grabbed the underwear out of Vision's hands and shoved them into her bag before grabbing both of the bags and rushing into her room.

Vision stood on his feet, still confused. "Is something wrong? Wanda's face has become red. Is she alright?" he asked Steve, and Natasha

Natasha smirked before turning to Steve. "I'll let you explain the concept of underwear to Vision here." She said before going into Wanda's room to assist with the remaining cloths.

Steve just blanched. Where was Jarvis when you needed... Oh god damn it Tony!

* * *

Natasha entered Wanda's room, making sure to close the door behind her. There was no need to embarrass the poor girl any further than she already had been, even if Vision didnt realize the predicament he put Wanda in. Wanda for her part was sitting on her bed her face in her hands clearly trying to hide from the world as if that act alone would erase what had happened from her mind. Ironic since she could affect others minds but not her own. She didn't even look up when Natasha entered the room. Undaunted Natasha just made her way to Wanda's bed, before plopping her self on the bed beside her ally.

Wanda still didn't budge. It wasn't until the redhead gently placed her hand on Wanda's shoulder that she moved, raising her head to meet Natasha's gaze, her face still tinted a nice flattering rose color. It almost made the assassin laugh. They may be superheroes, but even they had moments that they wish never happened.

"Wanda, don't tell me that you are that embarrassed." Natasha said, trying to diffuse the situation with a bit of humor.

Wanda shook her head, biting her lip "I…I just—don't know how to handle that." she told Natasha sheepishly. "No one has seen my undergarments since I was a child." Quite frankly she didn't even want anyone to see her undergarments period. Vision obviously didn't know what had happened but she didn't want to look him n the eye after this, at least not until she calmed down. but who knew when that was going to be?

Natasha just shrugged. She wasn't very good with comforting others, that was more Steve's territory, but she could offer words of wisdom when needed be. Especially when it came to the ways of the females, though Wanda was definitely not in the category of "Girls that need to be taught seduction" but bing the sharp witted woman she was, Natasha was able to read that there was more to the story then that. "Wanda is there something that you want to tell me?" she asked gently.

Wanda just hid her head in her hands once again, letting out an incoherent jumble of words. Natasha just patted her shoulder stating "I have a feeling, but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She said, before getting up and leaving the room. she would come out eventually.

* * *

After dinner, the team went outside and introduced Wanda to S'mores (which were cooked around a campfire in the middle of the evening, which Wanda couldn't help but enjoy) and she reveled in them. They were the tastiest dessert that she had ever had. She wondered what Pietro would have thought about this. He probably would have eaten the entire team's s'mores while they weren't looking.

Thinking about her brother brought forth feelings of sadness as she ate her third s'more, Wanda put down her sugary treat, excused herself and went back into the compound.

Clint, seeing her change in mood went inside after her.

He caught up with her just as she entered the lobby and from what it sounded like, Wanda was choking back tears , her shoulders slumped yet shaking from the cries that desperately wanted to escape her body "Hey Wanda, you ok?" he asked gently, his inner parent coming out to comfort the young girl.

"I'm ok…" She lied not even bothering to hide her emotions to Clint, not that she wanted too.

"You want to talk about it?" Clint asked. Wanda dint answer, but her silence told him all that he needed to know. Gently he took her hand and squeezed it for reassurance "come on kiddo" he whispered softly

Clint led her over to the couch and they both sat down. "It's stupid. It's about my brother." Wanda said as she looked down at her hands in agony

"What about him?" Clint asked though he suspected the reason.

"I miss him." She answered. " I've been thinking about him a lot lately. What he would think of me as an Avenger, funny jokes he would say in situations… What he'd say about s'mores."

By this point tears were breaking out of her eyes. Clint pulled her in for a hug that she reciprocated. The two Avengers snuggled up together as Wanda allowed her feelings for her now deceased brother to come out in silent but constant tears. This wasn't the first time Clint had done this for the Avenger's youngest member. Over the past few weeks, he had returned to the compound to help her through the adjustment process and help her find her place on the team. Because Pietro had died saving his life, Clint felt a strong commitment to helping the young girl recover from the death of her brother and the utter destruction of her hometown but so far it seemed like she wasn't making much progress. That was when he remembered his conversation with Steve.

"Wanda." Clint began. "I'd like to ask you something."

Wanda removed herself from her cuddling position to look at him. What could be so important that Clint wanted to tell her but not the others?" Steve and I have been talking. We known you've been having a hard time since coming here and we want to help. I'm returning home tomorrow morning and I'd like you to come with me."

Wanda's eyes went wide. "To your home with your family?" Just saying that made her heart warm. She didn't even know what it was like to have a family anymore

Clint continued. "You've a rough couple of years. Maybe it's time you spend a few days being a child again." Lord knows that she needed it whether she realized it or not.

"You're ok with me being around kids. Around your kids?" Wanda asked still dealing with the shock. She knew that Clint cared for her and she did quite honestly see him as a father figure especially since he helped her out in Sokovia but this just seemed too good to be true.

"You're not a weapon Wanda. You're a person." Clint affirmed with a small smile. "And after what you did putting yourself on the line for the world against Ultron, I trust you 100%."

Wanda smiled as a tear came out of her eye. She couldn't believe that this was happening. To be part of a family again; it was all that she ever wanted. With her long sleeves, she wiped her tears away. "Ok then, I'll come."

* * *

**Like i said revised. the rest of the story will definitely be more original, So be patient. It will all be worth it in the end.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello. Im glad you liked the first chapter, so here is the second one!. Do note that there is a bit of a gorey scene but it relates to Wand's condition at this point. As always leave your thoughts**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The flight over to the Barton's was surprising short and but to Wanda the trip seemed to take eternity. She practically sleep walked through gathering her cloths and necessities needed for this trip; Clint hadn't told her how long they would be gone, only that it would give her a chance to reflect on her life and properly grieve. She hadn't even bothered to say anything during the trip to all for she was lost in thought during the entire ride and she was worried.

This was her first time meeting Clint's family. She had learned from the others that he had retired to spend time with them and live a normal life, something she'd had stolen away when she was 10. She desperately wanted to make a good impression on his wife and kids. She wanted them to like her and not think of her like some kind of killing machine or broken doll. The very thought made her ill. Even though Clint said that he trusted her 100%, but the thing was Wanda couldn't bring herself to trust herself. Even disregarding her lack of social skills with everyone around her, with her lack of proper training with her powers, she was a danger to Clint's kids as it wasn't like she could put a lock on her powers and open it up at any time. The slightest miscalculation and it very well spell doom for the target intended or unintended.

Needless to say Wanda did not want to be responsible for hurting Clint's kids. as much as he trusted her, such an act; she couldn't bear to think of what he would say to her if that ever happened.

She kept her gaze firmly on the sky as the Quinjet zoomed out of the New Avengers facility, barely acknowledging the world as it passed by her, the cities of New York gradually fading into the rural countryside of Missouri (according to Clint anyway, since Wanda knew very little about United States geography). The only reason she knew that they reached their intended destination was that Clint had brought her out of her stupor, just before landing.

After Clint safely landed the jet, Wanda gathered her meager belongings, and followed Clint onto his family she stepped out of the Quinjet with Clint leading the way. Wanda was surprised to see was that her current residence was perfectly described as "the nice wooden house in the middle of nowhere" despite her anxiety, Wanda felt strangely at peace. The place was quite different than what she was used to. There was no city noise like Sokovia or New York and the only background noise she heard was the sound of nature. Taking a look at everything around her, she had to admit that as a place to retire, Clint had chosen well.

Clint could tell that Wanda was a little overwhelmed emotionally, so her gently placed a hand on her shoulder causing the young girl to look at her mentor. The archer was giving her a small reassuring smile "I know it looks beautiful on the outside just wait until you see what's on the inside. Wanda just looked at him, not sure how to respond to that. It was quite beautiful and even without her powers she could tell he was being genuine, at least in his own opinion. . "No need to be so nervous Kid," he stated "Just know Laura and I are here for you."

Wanda simply nodded, biting her lip in an effort to calm her nerves, before following Clint into the entrance.

As they walked into the living room of the house, Clint was approached by two of his kids, a boy and girl both fairly young. They both screamed 'daddy' and rushed into his arms giggling. Clint in turn seemed to melt considerably in their presence and started she could feel through her powers his changed mood. She could feel nothing but pure euphoria off him as he engaged with them. It reminded her of happier times when she and Pietro would do something similar whenever their parents got home from work.

Hearing the commotion, an older woman about Clint's age walked in carrying a newborn in her arms. She smiled as she saw Clint and they moved to embrace. After they finished, the two turned to Wanda smiling. "So you're Wanda." The woman said.

Wanda tried to speak but somehow couldn't find her voice, namely because there was the fact that the newborn in the woman's arms had a onesie with Pietro emblazoned on it and it made her want to choke. This child was named after her brother. Unable to convey her feelings into words, she just nodded. The woman broke her embrace with Clint, passed the baby to him and moved to her pulling her in for a hug surprising the young Sokovian. "I'm Laura, Clint's wife."

She could feel the love and content radiating off this woman and it was nearly suffocating that it brought her to tears at the familiar prescience that she yearned for. Wanda found herself unconsciously returning the hug, not wanting this moment to end. After a few moments Laura let go of the young girl and Wanda finally found her voice.

"Hi…" Wanda mumbled out as she adjusted the grip on her bag. "I hope I'm not inconveniencing you."

"Oh nonsense dear." Laura smiled brightly as she took her guest's bag. "Come on dear I'll show you to your room."

Entering one of the rooms with Laura, Wanda saw a modest but certainly well maintained room with a nice bed and desk. "This room is all yours. Laundry bag is in the closet if you want me to run a load just leave it in the laundry room. They're food in the fridge and the pantry if you're hungry now but I'll have dinner ready in an hour. We may not have the same amenities of the Avengers but hopefully this should be enough."

Wanda took a bit to eye the room as she set down her bag. "Thank you very much Mrs. Barton. This place is beautiful. I'm really thankful that you let me stay here."

"It's not a problem at all. And please call me Laura." Laura smiled. "Mrs. Barton makes me feel old." Wanda couldn't help but chuckle at that one. Laura probably wasn't that much older than her mother had been when Wanda had been the children's age, but if it made her feel better.

Laura then turned from the room to get back to making dinner for the family "I'll leave you to get settled in, call me if you need me" she said before walking away, leaving Wanda alone in her room. Wanda placed her back beside her bed and sat down in the mattress, sinking into the marshmallow material. Letting out a sigh Wanda leaned back on the mattress gazing up at the ceiling, the white blank wall staring back at her.

She couldn't believe that she was here. In a home with a loving family, with someone who trusted her. Why was she here? She certainly didn't deserve it. Turning over on her bed, Wanda gazed out of the window looking at the wilderness. Despite her anxiety, he had to admit that Clint was right about one thing. This place was very beautiful. Maybe she would be able to find peace here, at least for the time being.

She sat back up, leaning over her bed to rummage through her bag. Going to a secure side pocket, Wanda pulled out an old photo of her and Pietro. It was taken just before the Ultron offensive; Pietro was enamored by the idea of working with the Avengers to rectify their mistake of working with Ultron and thought that they should commemorate the moment. In the picture, the Twins were staring at the camera with smiles, the New York Skyline highlighted in the background the speedsters arm slung around the witch's shoulders, with Wanda's head on Pietros shoulder as well.

If only she had known it was one of the few times she would ever see Pietro alive again.

Just the thought of her brother caused the dam o burst and several tears fell from Wanda's eyes, falling onto the photo. Curling up into a ball, Wanda just sat on the bed and cried until there were no more tears left.

* * *

An hour later, the family had sat down for dinner. Wanda had managed to clean herself up a little, even managing to take a shower and was now dressed in a decent shirt and sweatpants. as for the food, it was nothing crazy just a bit of pasta and some bread but it was spectacular to Wanda. Wanda smiled throughout the entire dinner as she answered question after question from Cooper.

"You're an Avenger!" Cooper asked his eyes wide. "Cool! Do you have powers? How'd you get them?" it seemed to everyone in the room that Cooper was unable t contain his excitement at the idea of one of his father's friends staying with them for the time being.

"Cooper!" Laura scolded. "Wanda's trying to eat and you keeping badgering her with questions." Clint watched with amusement at his wife's attitude already wanting to protect Wanda from the 'joy ' of having a child fan. Maybe he should have warned her about the possibility of being a celebrity, even within the confines of hs own home

"It's ok." Wanda placated. In reality it was ok. Wanda was just happy for a chance to have someone else there who was more in awe of her powers than in fear of them, even if Cooper was only a child. "I do have powers. I can move things with my mind and sometimes I can read the minds of others." Wanda answered with the shorthand version.

Wanda didn't think his eyes could go wider. "Can you use them on me? What am I thinking of now? Can you lift me up in the air?" He said his facing turning into one of those cute child serious faces.

"I don't think your mother would want me levitating you at dinner." Wanda said awkwardly. The last thing she wanted to do was make her host uncomfortable even if she sensed no shift in the mother's mood as the topic of powers came up aside from minor annoyance at her son or hurt him accidently while doing so since she never used her powers for playful matters. She could affect adults minds with little to no effort; who knows what could happen if used on a child.

"Maybe you two can do it tomorrow." Laura offered her son hoping he'd drop the subject. Clint had told her as much as he knew about Wanda and Laura wanted to make sure that Wanda felt like a normal person that belonged here rather than some human weapon even if Cooper meant no harm at the idea of using Wanda's powers for recreation.

Lila then took the time to interject. "Mommy can I have some Nutella marshmallows tonight for desert?" she asked innocently, her eyes shining with want

"Yeah me too!" Cooper yelled, immediately turning his attention away from the red clad Avenger at the thought of dessert.

"Eat your Vegetables and we'll see." Clint offered.

"What's Nutella?" Wanda asked guessing it was some kind of sweet treat. After being introduced to s'mores she could only wonder just what other types of dessert she had missed out on and had to compare this 'Nutella' to the s'mores

"Only the bestest desert ever!" Lila explained as if she were speaking to a child that didn't know any better. Oh the irony of that one nearly had everyone laugh but Wanda just managed a small smile.

After dinner was over, Wanda helped Laura clean up the table and wash the dishes though the older woman insisted that she could do it herself, Wanda was a guest and didn't want to treat the Barton homestead like she owned the place. Helping with chores was the least she could do. After they were done with that, Cooper and Lila both offered Wanda a Nutella dessert and just like the other ones Wanda had fallen in love. Sweets were a rare sight in Sokovia and so Wanda enjoyed every bite that she took of the delicious snack before Laura snatched it away from her son and put it back in the pantry. The kids whined at this until their mother reminded them that they could have it for dessert tomorrow as well.

Once the dishes were put away, Wanda thanked Laura for her time, then retreated from the kitchen and went outside, where she found Clint on a rocking chair overlooking the sunset going down on the forest. Having spent most of the day inside Wanda had yet to enjoy what nature had to offer here. It certainly wasn't like anything back home. Taking a seat beside the retired avenger, Wanda just glanced at the stars twinkling in the distant sky. She couldn't help but feel enamored like this. for the first time in her life she felt like a child again utterly amazed at the beauty that life could offer to her. She really did have to thank Clit for everything he had done for her. Leaning back in the rocking chair, Wanda let the rolling sensation overcome her, calming her nerves. A small smile graced her lips. She could get used to this.

As the sun continued to dip under the horizon, Wanda turned to Clint, whose gaze was firmly set on the horizon, eyes ever so focused. He wasn't called Hawkeye for nothing.

Wanda returned her gaze to horizon, before she spoke to Clint. "thank you " she whispered, so quietly that Wanda was sure Clint had to strain himself to hear what she had said. The man looked at Wanda gently smiling at her "don't mention it Wanda. You're my friend. I promise you that I'm going to help you through this, no matter the cost"

Wanda returned the smile, returning her gaze to the forest watching the sun.

* * *

The next morning Wanda awoke to the distant sound of birds chirping outside her window, surprising her, but she didn't bother paying much attention to it; birds did the same thing at the compound every morning. It was natures little wake up call. There was little Wanda could do about it, not that she would want to, given how comfortable she felt underneath the blankets and pillows that Clint had provided to her. Rolling over in her bed, Wanda let out a small huff, wanting to go back to sleep so that she could enjoy the blissful hold of slumber for just a bit longer than nature intended her to. She inhaled deeply before releasing a sigh, allowing her drowsiness to overtake her back into the realm of slumber. Just as she was about to go back to sleep a familiar voice woke her up.

"Are you going to stay in bed all day Wanda?" the voice asked.

Wanda's eyes shot open and she sat up in her bed. Standing beside her was Pietro, wearing the same cloths that he died in but lacked the bullet holes left behind by Ultron's assault. He was giving her the sly grin that showed he was about to do something mischievous.

Wanda blinked several times, trying to hold back tears not believing what she was seeing. Throwing the blanket off of her, she flew off the bed tackling her brother in a vice like hug, refusing to let him go as if her life depended on it. Pietro was here! Her eyes began welling up with tears. 'Brother!" she cried desperately her grip tightening even more, sobs shaking her slender frame. "You're here!" she wept angrily. Tears soaking into Pietros shirt as Wanda continued to cry, but Pietro just held onto his sister allowing her to release all the emotions that she had kept inside.

She felt s small, so innocent in her brothers arms like she was meant to be here. All those years of the two chasing each other around their apartment or in the school yard or even around the ruins of Sokovia after they lost their parents, came rushing back to Wanda in a giant mixed rush of memories. The times that he comforted her when she was scared especially when they were 'enhanced by HYDRA' and his reassurance that they were going to be fine before going back. None of it mattered because Wanda was exactly where she needed to be.

With Pietro's arms around her she felt safe life nothing bad was ever going to happen. He held her tightly and she felt that familiar warmth around her "Pietro" Wanda whispered before pulling away from her brother to gaze at his face. Pietro's eyes showed nothing but brotherly love and affection. Wanda just smiled back at him, her eyes sweeping over his face before she pulled him back into another hug.

"Its ok Wanda…" Pietro responded "I'm here"

Wanda just sniffed in response "I've missed you." she said. Pietro ran his hand through his sisters brown locks doing his best to comfort her.

Wanda knew that she was dreaming, but if this was a dream she didn't want to wake up from it. her reality even if she had new friends was far too painful for her without Pietro. She hadn't even admitted it to Clint when she brought it up yesterday. She couldn't bear the thought of living without her only family.

In some ways it was Wanda just processing her grief, even though she knew that fate was out of her control. But did that mean what she had now couldn't be real? It certainly felt real dream or not. And right now she couldn't give that up for anything in the world.

"Please don't leave me…." She mumbled, burying her face in Pietro's chest.

For a moment, Pietro was silent, worrying Wanda. She went to look up at him and to her surprise; he was giving her the angriest glare she had ever seen on his face, almost as if he wanted to kill her. Wanda baked away frightened, but before she could react, Petro suddenly stabbed her through the chest with a supersonic thrust. Wanda gasped feeling her body crunch where Pietro's hand punctured her and she looked down in horror to see the result of the attack, blood gushing from the wound and onto Pietro's arm. "I just did." He muttered darkly. "Do you know how it felt?" Wanda raised her head to look at her brother in the eye and she saw nothing but contempt and rage.

A moment later Pietro ripped his arm out from his sisters chest, her still beating heart in his hand. Wanda choked as blood leaked from her mouth, her eyes watering with tears. "It felt like that" Pietro growled, before Wanda fell to the ground helpless and utterly betrayed.

* * *

Wanda awoke gasping for air and clutching her chest where her heart was desperate to make sure that she was still intact. She grabbed at her shirt almost ripping it under the pressure as she chocked on her screams. She didn't even resister her bedroom door opening, but she did register strong arms grabbing her forearms in an effort to prevent the poor girl from hurting herself. Wanda let out a shriek trying to pull away from her supposed attacker, red mist building up around her as she readied to counter attack

"WANDA! WANDA!" Clint screamed urgently "Calm down its alright! Its me!" the retired avenger cried, drawing Wanda in his arms preventing her from moving and putting himself at risk to take her attack head on if needed be.

Wanda flinched when she heard Clint's voice, her attack dissipating in an instant when she realized she wasn't in danger. Drawing in breaths she leaned into Clint's chest trying to calm her racing heart. Clint wrapped his arms around the young sokovian, much like a father would when holding his child. Wanda was grateful but it did little to soothe her nerves and she cried silently, her dreaming taking away any sense of security that she had.

"shh" Clint chided gently, running his hand through Wanda's hair, trying to calm her down. It broke his heart to see Wanda so devastated. oh how many times did he have to go through with this when Cooper and Lila were younger. He didn't doubt that Wanda's parents or Pietro did the same thing when Wanda was younger either, and it seemed to him that she was in desperate need of some help. This was probably the worst nightmare she had thus far, considering Steve hadn't mentioned anything like this before.

Fortunately he knew not to press the question of what had scared Wanda so much; she would talk about it when she was ready or not at all; it wasn't his business. All he needed to do was be there for her.

Wanda continued to sniffle as she held onto Clint like a lifeline. She wanted nothing more than too have him ward off her anxiety, but every time she even thought about closing her eyes she saw her brothers malicious face ready and waiting to attack again

After a few minutes Wanda managed to calm her racing heartbeat to normal but her unease remained as she detached herself from Clint, who placed a reassuring hand on the girls shoulder "are you feeling better kid?" he asked gently. Wanda shakily nodded her head; she wasn't over he feeling of dread but she had calmed down somewhat. Clint smiled before standing up and walking towards the door. "If you ever want to talk Wanda just get me or Laura. We are up early anyway." he said before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Wanda stared at the door for a moment, before she lied back down in her bed. Despite having been calmed down by Clint, there was no chance that she would be getting any more sleep that night.

* * *

By the time morning came, Wanda felt like she could drop dead on the spot while at the same time felt unable to relax enough to drift off. It didn't help that while she was los in thought that the sun peaked over the forest, illuminating her room while at the same time the delicious aroma of breakfast filled the air. Heaving a tired sigh, Wanda lifted herself off the bed and went to the nearest bathroom. As expected, her eyes looked bloodshot and there were bags under them as well there wasn't going to be a way to cover those up, even with the makeup Natasha bought her the other day, not that she used too much of it anyway. Instead she focused on fixing her bedhead once more so that she looked the slightest bit presentable to her hosts. Afterwards she left the bathroom and made her way to the kitchen where she found Clint and the kids sitting at the kitchen table while Laura was tending to the baby on a table nearby.

Clint was the first to notice her and it didn't take a genius to see that he noticed her exhausted appearance, but he said nothing instead offering a warm smile and calling out to her "Morning Wanda!" Everyone turned to see Wanda trudging in the room, but Wanda took it in stride "morning!" she responded as she approached the table noticing the waffles in the center of the table. Her eyes lit up like a child on Christmas and she quickly made her way to an empty seat. Plopping in it her gaze continued to linger on the leftover waffles. Clint, noticing her silent pleas grabbed an extra plate and placed a few waffles on said plate, buttering and putting syrup on it for good measure.

Needless to say, Wanda finished her breakfast with the enthusiasm she was missing when she woke up.

"Goodness!" Laura laughed as she picked up the plate from the table "You must have been hungry!" she said, taking the plate to the sink and washing it. Wanda couldn't help but blush. It was only the second time she had waffles and she still had no control over how delicious they were and couldn't help but eat them the way she did. It wasn't like she grew up learning manners either

Clint laughed at Wanda's obvious embarrassment "No need to be upset Wanda, we're just glad you like them so much." He told her while Cooper and Lila giggled.

Wanda shook her head trying to get rid of her embarrassment. Sadly it didn't work for her face still felt heated and red.

The only good thing to come out of this morning so far was the no one was mentioning her appearance or the disturbances that she may or may not have made during the night. Unfortunately she was going to have to explain that to Clint. That was why she was here after all, so that she could get everything off of her chest and she wanted to talk to Clint about it but to be honest she was afraid to. Even though he trusted her she didn't know how talking to him was going to help in the long run. Would it stop the nightmares? Would it ease the guilty feeling that passed through her day in and day out? She wasn't sure but now wasn't the time to be talking to Clint about it, especially since his family was in the room.

Thankfully the tension was eased when Lila looked at her father and asked "Daddy, are we going to go to the lake today?" her eyes shining with hope

Clint looked at his daughter smiling, before he reached over and ruffled her hair of course we are little bird." He said happily before turning to Wanda who was intrigued by the idea of a lake "would you like to join us?" He asked her

Wanda blinked. A lake, here? Clint hadn't mentioned that before so Wanda hadn't packed anything that would be appropriate for a swim, not to mention she honestly didn't want to. Maybe she could help Laura around the house?

"That sounds like a great idea!" Laura said. "I'll get the supplies ready so we can go on a picnic this afternoon" she said, taking Nathanial in her arms. Oh great, he meant a picnic. Well Wanda really couldn't complain there. If anything it was just yet another nice thing that Clint was doing for her. "I'd like that" she said to Clint "do you need my help with anything?"

* * *

**Ok, that takes care of most of the original story content the only thing left is to introduce Wanda's boyfriend. But im going to ask you a question about that. Should Wanda meet him while at the Bartons like in "A Different Kind of Speaking? or when she returns to New York. Vote on the Poll on my page**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello. Back for chapter number 3. Full disclaimer, with the exception of the forthcoming meeting that was present in "A Different Kind of Speaking" the writing style has changed due to the fact that this chapter unlike the previous two, is whole written by me. So if you have any complaints well sorry but like I said before only 1 chapter of "A Different Kind of Speaking" exists so there is only so much material to use.**

**I tried to make this chapter a little more lighthearted than the previous two, so hopefullylly you'll get a little more enjoyment at the small things. Have fun!**

* * *

Later that day Wanda was kind of beginning to regret those words. When she said she was willing to help she meant helping pack supplies for the trip or hell even changing Nathaniel's diaper if she had to (thankfully when that moment did arrive Laura politely declined Wanda's help in the matter because she didn't want her to worry about the mess, which Wanda had no experience in cleaning and quite frankly Laura didn't want to force Wanda to go through the ordeal in question) but what she actually had to experience was far worse an ordeal then anything that she could ever want to imagine having to endure throughout her lifetime

Listening to two kids argue the entire way to the lake.

If there was one thing that Wanda couldn't stand about her powers it was that she was able to feel even the slightest shifts in peoples moods whenever they seemed to be upset and with kids this couldn't have been more insufferable. The kids themselves were fine, they were like the little siblings Wanda had always wanted, if she was being honest but their mood swings were comparable to a pregnant woman on a rampage.

The sad part was that Wanda was in between the two in the truck, so even if she mentally tuned out the emotional aspect of the argument she couldn't shake the literal ringing in her ears coming from the two children screaming on either side of her.

The reason the two were arguing? Well not for the reasons that would be world ending catastrophes to Wanda Clint or Laura. Even Nathanial seemed not to have a care in the world as he was just dozing off in his mother's arms oblivious to his older siblings bickering. Oh how Wanda wished that she could just fall asleep on a whim like that right now. Using her powers certainly wasn't an option; she doubted her hosts would appreciate that even if it did bring them some peace.

Anyway back to the main point, and the answer was – the radio. Of all the things Wanda thought that anyone could argue over it was the radio. It wasn't even that long of a drive but somehow the radio was the most important thing in their lives at this very moment.

The very thought of this being the ordeal throughout the trip was downright suffocating to Wanda but she had no right to parent the children, even though neither Clint of Laura had said anything as of yet.

Mainly because it had been less than a few seconds since the arguing began. Yes Wanda was just in that kind of mood simply because se had less then ten hours of sleep in the past two days and all the caffeine in the world wouldn't be able to save her at this very moment even if she had drank any this morning. All she could do was try and focus on something else, literally anything else until they agreed on a single song on the radio. Hard to do when the kids seemed to have different tastes in music. So her only hope was that either Clint or Laura managed to calm the two down before Wanda's emotional breaking point was reached.

Thankfully Clint lived up to his Superhero name as he was glancing at the rear view mirror ever so carefully and in a few short microseconds was able to see that Wanda was getting annoyed rather quickly by his children's antics and switched the radio off before anyone could so much as blink.

The car went deathly silent as the children registered the fact that there was no longer any music playing on the radio. It seemed to Wanda that this was to be expected, as the kids didn't so much as whine about the music being gone. Thankfully that meant her power-induced headache was slowly disappearing and she couldn't help but enjoy the newfound peace and quiet.

She saw Clint wink at her showing that he was conscious of her current state and Wanda silently nodded in return.

Her gaze wandered to the car window once again watching the world go by. Despite having seen a similar view from the Quinjet during the ride over here, as well as the surrounding view from the farmhouse Wanda had to admit that there was a serene beauty here and she couldn't be more grateful that she chose to come here with Clint despite her unease at being around his family.

Was this how the world really was? Peaceful and quiet, surrounded by love and joy? It made her envy Clint's retirement even more, irritation and jealously bubbling inside her even though she had no right to feel that way. it wasn't her fault a shell impacted her apartment building when she was ten and she spent the remainder of her childhood and some of her early adult life as an orphan. She didn't know how Clint spent his early life. While it certainly wasn't like Tony Stark's lap of luxury just by pure use of logic, she doubted that it was anywhere near as harsh as her was.

That being said she probably wouldn't have even met Clint or the Avengers if it wasn't for that. Maybe if it wasn't for her and Pietro's help, Ultron might have wiped out humanity. But maybe it was irrelevant and Pietro might still be alive if she never became an Avenger.

These questions burned within the young girl and it only increased her anguish at the thoughts that might have been.

'Pietro, would you have enjoyed life if you were here in America like I am?' Wanda thought. tears began brimming in her eyes, causing Wanda to close them in an effort to hide her emotions. The last thing she needed was to cause the kids to worry, since Clint was already doing that.

Her reverie was halted however when the car came to a stop not to long later. "we're here!" Clint said, followed by the kids cheering as they both hopped out of the car, leaving Wanda alone in the back of the car. Her eyes snapped open and a most wonderful sight greeted her. Amid all the trees that she had seen during this ride was a clear crystal blue lake simmering in the sunlight. While there was a lake not dissimilar to this one back at the compound, the key difference was that unlike there, she could turn her head in every direction and not see anything man made in sight. Unbuckling her seatbelt, Wanda stepped out of Clint's truck and the crisp clean lake air, the subtle scent of freshly cut grass and lake water permeating in the air, greeted her. This truly was a beautiful location. Never in all her life had she seen such a peaceful environment. She breathed in the scent already falling in love with the surrounding area.

If this is what Missouri had to offer then she wanted to be here full time. Of course maybe traveling to other places in between saving the world wouldn't be a bad thing either. But so far she would have to go with the natural life.

Wanda joined the Barton family at the back of the truck; Clint was grabbing the tarp that they would all sit on, leaving several baskets filled with food that Wanda had helped Laura prepare earlier. Since Clint had the tarp and Laura already had her hands full with the baby and the diaper bag, she decided to take the baskets herself. Better that than having Cooper and lily drop them, even though they weren't heavy. Besides they were kids.

"I'll get the food" Wanda told Clint as the man heaved the tarp on his shoulder fireman style. Clint Smiled and turned to Wanda briefly, "Follow Laura I'll be along in a minute" he told her

Taking the handles, Wanda took out the baskets and followed Clint's instructions trailing after Laura who had the two kids as well, both of them chatting about going in the lake and swim.

"Alright kids!" Laura said to Cooper and Lila, go ahead and swim but remember just an hour and then we will eat ok?" she told the kids

"Yes mom!" they chorused before zooming into the lake at speeds even Pietro would have been jealous of. Wanda watched as they both dove in, quickly resorting to splashing each other for entertainment. It made Wanda's heart swell with joy; she could feel their emotions the sheer happiness was radiating off of them like sunlight on a warm day. She looked at Laura and she saw that she had a content smile as she watched her children playing. She didn't need her powers to feel the sheer wonder coming from the mother.

The sound of material unfolding caught Wanda's attention and she turned to see Clint laying the tarp on the ground, getting it ready for the picnic. Wanda took the baskets and quickly put them on the trap before sitting down on it Clint looked at her "Not going in the lake with the kids? I'm sure you'd enjoy it"

Wanda shook her head "As much fun as that would be Clint, I neglected to bring something to wear that would be suitable for a lake" she replied. That and she honestly didn't know how to Swim but Clint didn't need to know that.

Thankfully Clint left it at that and Wanda proceeded to unpack the food setting it up so that when everyone was ready they could just dig in. Wanda, after setting up the food excused herself from the picnic set up and made her way to the edge of the lake. It was gritty and sandy but Wanda didn't mind, she was used to hard surfaces growing up n the streets. Setting herself down on the ground Wanda folded her knees up to her chest gazing out at the serene view of the lake, the sounds of the children playing fading away from her thoughts. He ran her hand on the ground feeling the rocks beneath her fingertips. A small smile graced her face enjoying the feeling.

Taking a rock in her hand, Wanda started skipping them across the water, watching as it made ripples on the lake's surface. She kept it up for the entire hour until Clint called them all for lunch.

Much like the day before it wasn't anything extravagant, just some sandwich's, but that didn't mater to Wanda. She was just enjoying the Barton's company. Of course, Cooper tried to continue the conversation from the previous day, begging Wanda to use her powers to levitate him, but Laura shot the idea down not wanting him to badger Wanda every time they ate.

Aside from that though the picnic went off without a hitch, the sun shining and the birds chirping making for the perfect picturesque moment of Wanda's trip so far.

After finishing the food, Laura brought out some ice cream for dessert. Wanda decided to go with some vanilla, though she of course had to add some Nutella.

After finishing the dessert, Wanda turned to the Barton's "Thank you for this." she said, a smile on her face, one of the first genuine ones that she was able to muster in the weeks since her arrival in America. She couldn't help it. Clint had taken her in for no other reason than the love in his heart and it had turned out to be one of the best decisions that had ever been done for her. there truly wasn't anything she could do to repay him for this debt.

Laura looked at Wanda with a kind smile and shook her head "we are happy to have you Wanda. You're like family." She said.

Wanda blinked, the words taking her by surprise. In fact she seemed to have frozen all together like a deer in the headlights. Did Clint really feel like that? Unfortunately Wanda was unable to come up with an answer her mind going blank by this revelation; she didn't even think to use her powers to read Clint's mind to validate that claim

Clint, noticing Wanda's statuesque demeanor, waved a hand in front of the girls face. She didn't so much as twitch "Wanda" he called gently, snapping his fingers the Sokovian didn't blink, her eyes glassed over like she was in a daze. Struggling to hold back a laugh, Clint looked at his wife with a large grin on his face. "Honey, I think you broke her." he said, while Laura sheepishly smiled back at him

The kids just giggled at the display in front of her, Wanda no longer aware of her surroundings.

* * *

Later that day. Wanda found herself back in the land of the living, having recovered from her shock by then (Apparently Clint had to drag her from her spot back to the car and she hadn't put up a fight at all.) and was currently back on the porch with Clint watching the sunset. It seemed to be their thing whenever they were together. Given Wanda's newfound love for Clint's home she couldn't find anything better than this.

Laura and the others were inside baking some Nutella cookies, but Wanda preferred the fresh air, rather than the scent of baking cookies, and wanted to give Clint some company as well since the others didn't seem to want to join them outside at least for the time being.

To be fair though she hadn't exactly seen much during the past two days. Yesterday had only amounted to settling in and today they had spent most of the day at the lake. Wanda wanted to see more of what America had to offer. The only thing was, she was kind of stuck with Clint and his family. Not that it was a bad thing but she was forced to rely on him in order to do anything that was outside of his house and there was only so much that could be done here that didn't amount to babysitting or doing household chores. Wanda was glad to help with either situation but she wanted to do more until Clint decided that she should return to New York to continue her training as an Avenger. She certainly didn't think there was much in this part of Missouri but Laura had mentioned that there was a town not to far from the Barton farm, if Wanda wanted to do some shopping. However if she wanted to do so herself she would need to learn how to drive. Her eyes drifted to the Quinjet, which Clint had left nearby.

There wasn't any chance that Clint would let her pilot the Quinjet in a test run anywhere near his farm house; even if he did it was not Wanda's desired mode of transportation on this trip. The truck was somewhat out of the question since the Bartons would need it for their own concerns and Wanda certainly couldn't deprive them of it for her own selfishness.

Which begged the question, where was she going to learn to drive? And with what? She wasn't really sure why she suddenly wanted this independence all of a sudden, but she was an adult and despite her personal troubles didn't want to be treated like a porcelain doll all of the time.

Of course she was getting ahead of herself since she hadn't even asked Clint if he would teach her. So she turned to the man who was drinking a soda, enjoying the cool crisp night of the air.

"Clint can you teach me how to drive?" she blurted out.

Clint's eyes widened as he registered that question and in his shock choked on his drink, coughing hard as he pulled the glass away and pounded on his chest to ease the unrest in his air pipe.

Despite herself Wanda couldn't help but giggle, though she tried to hide it by covering her mouth with one hand. After a few moments Clint managed to cam down and he placed his drink on the table beside his chair turning his gaze on the young girl with a puzzled look on is face. "Drive?" he echoed.

Wanda nodded, lacing her hands together in her lap, trying to calm her nerves. It seemed to her that her sudden courage faded. Clint made her feel like a child under his gaze; she had seen that judgmental look before many times before as a child. At least it wasn't nearly as menacing as Strucker's gaze during her time in HYDRA.

"Where did this come from kid?" Clint asked Wanda. He didn't know why he was surprised. "Didn't you or your brother learn how to hotwire a car?" he asked. Pietro might have loved that idea, or so Clint thought with his ideas of what amounted to teenage delinquency.

Wanda sucked in a breath at the mention of her brother, and even Clint seemed dumbstruck by his words. Wanda's lip quivered at the reminder of her dead twin her gaze going downward. She knew Clint didn't mean any harm, but…

Clint was the first to recover and he cleared his throat gently, "I'm sorry Wanda, I didn't mean…" he trailed off as Wanda wrapped her arms around herself.

Clint's heart dropped at Wanda sudden change in attitude, going from the vibrant teen he knew to the sullen heartbroken child that was born when her brother died what a way to end a perfectly wonderful day.

His paternal instincts taking over, Clint stood up and went over to Wanda drawing her in his arms. The girl leaned into Clint's chest appreciating the comfort. After a few moments Clint pulled away placing his hands on Wanda's shoulders. "Hey Wada." He said gently. Wanda lifted her head to meet Clint's gaze. "Come with me." He said, turning away and leaving the porch. Wanda quickly leapt out of her seat and followed the older man.

To her surprise, Clint was taking her to the Quinjet. He wasn't going to seriously let her drive it was he? They shouldn't be going anywhere; Wanda certainly hadn't packed for a return trip; Clint would have requested her to do so if they were leaving for any reason.

Clint lowered the ramp to the Quinjet, and then quickly entered the vehicle, with Wanda following him up the steps.

Once inside, Clint made his way over to what appeared to be some sort of console in the middle of the jet. Wanda had seen it before but she never bothered to touch it. Clint pressed his hand on the touchpad on the console,; to Wanda' surprise, the console lit up, and she caught a glimpse at the touchpad registering Hawkeye as an official Avenger. A moment later, the console split open like an egg, revealing, to Wanda's surprise a rather sharp looking motorcycle. Her eyes widened as she drank in the sight of the rather cool vehicle.

No wonder Wanda didn't know about this, even if she had known the console was a parking garage for this, she wouldn't have been able to open it in the first place. Wanda's credentials hadn't been loaded into the Quinjet since she was still in training and since she couldn't fly it yet that likely wasn't going to change anytime soon.

But if she could at least get her hands on something as cool as the motorcycle she wouldn't complain about not having the authority to fly the Quinjet.

"Natasha had this built a while back before we ended up in Sokovia" Clint explained noticing Wanda's awestruck gaze. "It's actually the prototype for several models back at the compound that Tony helped design. Since that's the case Natasha thought it would be best to keep it in the Quinjet in case of emergencies. Such as teaching a young enhanced girl how to drive."

Wanda turned around so fast that Clint was surprised that she didn't have super speed like her brother. "I get to learn how to drive THIS?" she all but screeched happily, her eyes shining with glee.

Clint sniggered at her energy his eyes shining mischievously.

* * *

"I'm going to kill you old man!" Wanda yelled angrily as she tried to balance on the bike that she was on. Of all the things she could think about doing to learn how to ride a motorcycle THIS was definitely not at the top of her list.

When Clint had told her they needed to prepare Wanda to ride a "Avenger Certified hot rod" Wanda was expecting him to show her how the bike worked, have her go on a training course at very slow speeds or have her watch him while she rode in a side car or as a passenger.

Instead Clint had the wonderful idea to take baby steps with Wanda by having her ride an actual bike! So here she was on Laura's bike, with a helmet and pads to protect her more vulnerable areas in Clint's yard, currently struggling to maintain her balance on the dirt.

Clint stood on the porch with an amused grin, obviously enjoying the torment that Wanda was feeling. Wanda didn't need her powers to know that either. If only she actually hated him she would flick her wrist and make Clint think he was a Gorilla trying to skin his hair off. But no he was her friend and she really didn't want to traumatize his kids or explain to his wife why the archer had a bizarre change in personality.

In all fairness, it had actually been sometime since Wanda had ridden a bike, so Clint wasn't entirely wrong by having her take baby steps to make sure she could handle the change in balance, but she couldn't help but feel it was slightly ridiculous considering that despite them being similar vehicles, one was foot powered and the other one was engine powered. So why was she trying to learn to balance on the one she was less likely to use?

Oh yeah, Clint just wanted to tease her.

Said man just laughed at Wanda's irritation "easy there kid, you'll work up to the real thing soon." He joked.

"Shut up!" Wanda snapped at him as she slowly began pedaling, trying her best to ignore the urge to hypnotize him.

While she was busy trying to ride the bike, the front door opened and out walked Laura with some lemonade on a tray. She was surprised to see her husband on the porch watching their guest trying (and apparently failing, judging by the fact that Clint was snickering and Wanda looked moments away from swearing loudly.) and a small smile touched her lips. "Honey?" she said gently. Clint turned to see his wife with the lemonade and he gave her a loving smile. "Laura" he said going over to her and taking the tray from her, placing it on the table before he gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. "Nate's asleep?" he asked. Laura nodded "had to sing that Russian lullaby for him several times over, but he should be out for the rest of the night" she said before looking at Wanda. "What's going on over there, she asked gesturing to Wanda." Clint let out a bark of laughter and said, "oh you know, just a little teenage rebellion going on." Laura giggled at her husband's antics, before giving him a bemused look. "She wants to learn how to drive, but I didn't want her to get in over her head so…" he waved his arm, gesturing to Wanda "she needs to ride with training wheels before I take them off."

Laura looked back at Wanda, before looking at Clint once more "she's going to kill you for that you know she whispered. "Clint just shrugged, "what's she going to do give me nightmares?" he joked.

"I can do more than that!" Wanda yelled behind him. Clint turned to see Wanda pedaling towards the house at a slow rate, murder in her eyes and her teeth clenched in annoyance. After she got closer to the house, she stopped and quickly hopped off the bike, making sure not to leave it to fall carelessly on the ground, before giving Clint an angry glare. "Hi Laura," she said, her voice level, but did nothing to hide her annoyance." Laura didn't acknowledge the girl's mood instead taking the glass of lemonade she bought and handed it to the young girl "Lemonade?" she asked.

Wanda took the drink and sipped it, giving Laura a small "Thank you." before she turned to Clint "I think I'm going to turn in for the night." She said before going inside the house, leaving her hosts on the porch.

After he left, Clint sighed and sat back in his chai, before placing his head in his hands. Laura noticed his change in mood and went beside him, pacing a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Clint raised his head to meet his wife's gaze. "I'm just worried about her," he said sincerely. She said she wants independence from us while she is here; to explore the world she missed out on, but…."

"You don't think she is ready for that?" Laura asked puzzled.

Clint said nothing at first. He knew it was an odd feeling, but he couldn't help it. Wanda barely knew much about the world around her. She was not the most naïve of individuals but between her trying to adjust without her brother and the fact she was now an Avenger, essentially a celebrity, whose life would be under a microscope for the rest of her life, the last thing he wanted was for her to be overwhelmed.

"I just don't want her to get hurt any more than she already has. Steve asked me to help her heal emotionally as you know. What if something happens to her out there?"

Laura gave Clint a sad smile "She is a big girl honey." She said sadly "she is going to have to face it all sooner or later. But as long as you are there for her, she'll have the support she needs." She told him.

"I know" Clint responded, "But there is only so much I can do." He said, "I've never had to deal with a teenager before."

"Tell you what" Laura said "I'll take Wanda into town tomorrow, have a girls day with her. at the very least I can teach her how to be a regular teenage girl." she said with a sly grin. "Think you can handle the kids without me for a few hours?" she teased

Clint just matched her grin "after dealing with an army of robots the kids will be a piece of cake." He said with confidence

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**Ok, I will admit, that last bit with the bike came to me as I was writing the chapter and i just couldn't resist the idea. Besides it gives Clint and Wanda more time to bond. As always leave your thoughts.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello. Back for chapter number 4. I just realized whether by luck or Coincidence that I've been writing Wanda to have some symptoms of PTSD, so this chaper kind of goes into that As well, I want to thank everyone for following and favoriting his story thus far. Please tell me what you like about it so much, leave idea's you'd like to see something in the story. I welcome any and all kind ideas.**

**but for now enjoy the story. **

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The drive to town wasn't too terrible in Wanda's opinion, if not a bit long. The drive to the lake was short and sweet aside from the kids arguing moat of the way there, and while only having Laura as company proved advantageous in comparison here, the fact remained that as a result of being in a secluded area, the closest town was roughly a 20 minute to 30 minute drive. Which meant it would be a very long drive when Wanda finally learned how to ride a motorcycle with or without getting a license. That was one thing she could safely say was lacking compared to New York, but she was the one that wanted to explore the surrounding area more so here she was sleeping in the bed she made.

It honestly surprised her that Laura wanted to take Wanda out to the town. It wasn't like she was unfamiliar with the concept having shopped with Natasha quite a bit but Laura had the kids to take care of. She was under the assumption that the woman was a stay at home mom most of the time because Hawkeye was the breadwinner while working for SHIELD no to mention saving the world as an Avenger. Of course that didn't mean that his wife was not entitled to any down time, but the idea of Laura to spend time with 'her' of all people baffled the telekinetic Avenger in training. She wasn't just faking it either, Laura was practically singing with joy at the thought of spending time with her. It almost reminded Wanda a bit of her mother. Lord only knew that the Bartons were roughly the same age as her parents and it made her heart ache even more at the thought of being part of a family, like the Bartons said she did

Maybe Laura was cooped up in her own home longer than Wanda thought. Having once been stuck in a cell with little to no human contact, Wanda would certainly believe that her host might have become a full-blown super villain with only her pint sized offspring as company on a daily basis. Wanda had already been annoyed by the two chattering away a mil e a minute while in a car for less than a half hour. The idea of having to deal with it in the same capacity as Laura made her want to hypnotize herself into a coma

The drive was mostly silent with only the occasional small talk in between, mostly on how Wanda was doing adjusting to life in America. Wanda could tell that Laura was just trying to spare her the thought of her brother but there was little she could do to help with that and nothing that Wanda could say hadn't already been brought up to Clint or the others back at the Compound.

However as the two pulled up to what appeared to be a small shopping center the conversation was soon forgotten for Wanda was about to get quite the little surprise at this particular mall

* * *

Unlike the mall that Natasha took her to in New York, which was massive and extravagant, the one in this quiet town not to far from the Homestead was small and quaint. The buildings consisted of small shops ranging from small clothing outlets to message spas, none of which Wanda saw in the New York mall, at least not to the extent she expected them to be.

Of course when living with Tony Stark there was no expense spared, but to be honest Wanda kind of preferred the small setting; there wasn't nearly so many people here as in the City and the lesser shops made it feel less overwhelming. Wanda didn't require much in terms of objectivity.

In any case, she was going to let Laura handle it from here, since she knew where they were going in the first place. "Where to first?" she asked her friend quizzically as they entered the mall. Laura placed a hand on her hip gazing down the foyer that served as the hub to the mall. "You've got plenty of cloths with you I've noticed, so we don't need to do that" she told the young girl. Wanda watched her think for a moment, her eyes narrowed in deep thought. A moment later her eyes widened and she then snapped her fingers, "I got it!" she stated happily, taking Wanda's hand and proceeded to drag her across the mall, much to Wanda's shock.

Despite having the power to rip metal part with a simple thought, Wanda felt powerless t stop her host from taking her across the building, stopping when they reached what appeared to be some sort of… Spa was it? Natasha had mentioned it during one of their excursions but Wanda had never tried it herself "I meant to do this for a while, Laura stated looking at Wanda, who was perplexed by the situation. "I think it would be a great idea if you tried this too." She said with a smile.

Wanda looked at Laura frowning. Laura definitely was not made of money and something like this was bound to be expensive "Are you sure? I don't want you wasting your hard earned money on me." she didn't like it when Tony did it but at least he was a billionaire making money hand over fist.

Laura just waved her hand "Nonsense dear" she stated echoing her words from Wanda's first day, "Besides I'm sure you need to get some treatment every once in a while." She said with a sly grin.

It seemed to Wanda that Laura wasn't going to take no for an answer so she reluctantly followed her into the spa.

Inside the shop were several stands with woman at every one of them. Wanda could see some of the employee's working on nails whether it be painting or filing them, while some seemed to be getting their hair washed or bleached it seemed, but Wanda couldn't be too sure, never having seen such machines before (and she kind of didn't want one touching her any time soon) and finally some seemed to be soaking their feet in water.

Needless to say, Wanda had no clue what she was looking at, nor where to start. Thankfully however it seemed the Laura did and she took Wanda to the closest station in the store; in this case it seemed that the mother wanted to start with getting her nails done. "Becky!" Laura called out to one of the girls at the desk.

To Wanda's surprise the young woman at the desk seemed to recognize Laura for her eyes lit up and a smile graced her lips "Mrs. Barton." She stated "been a long time." What can I do for you today?" she asked politely.

Laura giggled slightly, before placing a hand on Wanda's shoulder, causing the Sokovian to glance at her "Hello Linda." She greeted the receptionist My friend here really needs a nice relaxing spa day after having to deal with so much." Laura said the lie slipping off her tongue like a river. Wanda was able to sense that she was partially telling the truth of course, since she was dealing with a lot, but the lack of effort to make a convincing fib made her wonder why Mrs Barton wasn't a part time SHIELD agent.

The newly named Linda took one look at Wanda and her eyes flashed with recognition. For a moment Wanda thought she was going to have her mouth drop open in a surprised gasp and suddenly have herself swamped by millions of fans when the woman inevitably screamed "You're an Avenger!" which would immediately ruin the reason for this trip in the first place and Wanda didn't want to have to protect Laura from a bunch of creeps wanting her autograph or anything like that.

What came out of the woman's mouth however was eve more confusing "ahhh she's stressed from applying to colleges isn't she? had quite a few young vixen's like yourself come in for that very reason." Linda said while giving Wanda a sly wink."

Wanda couldn't help but blush slightly, never having been commented on her beauty by another woman before, and it felt odd. She never explored her own attraction to anyone, since she never had the time for it. the woman didn't seem to mean anything by it. She certainly didn't find herself unattractive but her appearance was the last thing she thought about at times aside from being presentable and having good hygiene.

However Wanda decided to just roll with it and nodded quickly "Yeah I've actually been applying to Schools in New York." she said surprised by her own lie. Damn Natasha had been rubbing off on her.

"Really?" the receptionist said "we actually had this one gut here doing something-"

"Linda!" An old woman called from what appeared to be an office set behind the counter. She stomped out of the room, a scowl on her face and it was clear she was all business, but without any of the niceties. "Just get the woman her damn order, I don't pay you to gossip!" she snapped.

The woman responded like a dog chasing after a bone, jumping out of the hair and saying "Yes mamn" in a very robotic yet frightened manner. She quickly walked away, gesturing for Wanda and Laura to follow her. Wanda couldn't help but feel bad for her; Linda certainly didn't deserve to be yelled at for hospitality. She was itching to use her powers right now but would rather wait for a more opportune moment. Namely after she experienced this "spa" thing

She and Laura followed Linda to a room in the back where there were rows of chairs with what appeared o be basins of water in front of them. Taking a quick glance at several of the occupied chairs in the room, Wanda was able to deduce what was going on.

The customers sat in the chairs and placed their feet in the water, where they seemed to soak for a time mulling over menus that were on the tables beside the hairs where they would pick an order and the employees would follow those orders for the duration of the message. Linda led them to a couple of unoccupied message chairs.

Unfortunately for Wanda, as she approached one a mechanical whirring sound reached her ears with rather unfortunate results. Her mind flashed back to Sokovia where she found herself in the stronghold that she spent the better part of a year in, and instead of an empty chair she saw Ultron emblazoned in the crimson cowl gazing at her with soulless red eyes. "Wanda…." He said, his voice tapered with anger and betrayal "If you stay here… you'll die."

Wanda let out a yelp of fear jumping away from Ultron her hands up and her powers building ready to attack wen a tender hand landed on her shoulder and shook it gently.

"Wanda, you alright?" Laura asked the young girl, who blinked and suddenly found herself back in the spa room. the highchair where Ultron sat was gone, as was the android himself, revealing a comfy looking massage chair in it.

When did her heartbeat get so fast? It was pounding against her ribcage at speeds she never felt before, cold sweat slipping down the back of her neck at the thought of the unpleasant memory. Her breath was coming out in short gasps.

What was this she was feeling? She looked at Laura, trying to calm herself. "I'm fine, she said though to be surprise she uttered the line like she spat out venom. She quickly turned away from Laura to hide her brimming tears hurrying to the seat and sat down on it finding comfort in the leather.

Unfortunately now that she was sitting she was able to feel herself shaking against the chair and a quick glance at her hands showed her she was gripping the armrests very tightly to the point her knuckles were almost white.

What was happening? She felt fine just a minute ago. The whirring couldn't have caused it, could it? She never heard of such a thing. She could take on an army of robots but a hair caused her to hallucinate? What was she? a woman or a scared little girl?

Right now she couldn't tell up from down; the room seemed o be spinning and she couldn't even focus. It was like she was swimming in a sea of thick fog. She sat there lost in thought and she slipped out of the slippers that she had bought with her

She barely heard Linda saying she would be back with the menus. The only thing that registered to Wanda was dipping her feet in the warm water, the heat pleasant against her skin. It engulfed her the feeling washing away the dread that was sending her emotions into overdrive. She leaned back in her chair, heaving a content sigh.

Laura sat down in the chair beside Wanda watching her warily. In the short time she had seen Wanda she never saw her act so jumpy and irritated. It was extremely off putting especially since she had been nothing but sweet the entire time thus far.

She couldn't help but wonder, was this the start of something she should be worried about? Early on in her marriage to Clint she had seen the affects of his missions and what they did to him, hanging on him like a second skin. This rarely happened due to his ability to detach himself emotionally, plus there were few times where he was taken by surprise (except for one mission in Budapest) and he only got better throughout his career. This didn't prevent her from worrying about him despite supporting his lifestyle to the fullest of her ability. He was only human after all.

While the same could be said for Wanda there were more than a few differences that unsettled Laura. For one she did have enhanced abilities and while Laura was in no shape or form afraid of the girl because of it she was worried about how her mental state could affect them or even the other way around. In either case there was little she could do to help her young friend. She wasn't even sure Clint could either. Though they seemed to be getting along, Clint lacked the experience of dealing with grief the same way Wanda was presently. The only person she could think of was another Avenger, but she knew so little about them personally that she wasn't sure if that would help either.

All in all, it was all just wishful thinking on her part. All she could do was be there for Wanda and hope that she could grief properly and return to New York a much wiser and happier person than when she left it.

She would have to tell Clint about this, but for now she would just let it be. It was supposed to be a girls day after all and nothing was going to ruin it for her.

Back with the resident enhanced Wanda read the menu quite slowly, mainly because she wasn't sure what it was she was even reading t the moment. she didn't understand the difference between the packages being offered besides the price and he dint want to have a terrible experience but she also didn't want to have an expensive one either. as e of the employee' approached her likely to take an order, she waved at her, trying to get her attention.

This young woman whose name escaped Wanda approached her as soon as she noticed the Sokovian asking for help. "Excuse me miss…." Wanda began before trailing off

"Ling" the woman responded "What can I help you with today?" she asked somewhat robotically. Clearly she was used to asking this sort of question. Undaunted Wanda presented Ling with the menu a somewhat bashful look on her face "I'm afraid that I'm somewhat unfamiliar with this procedure" she stated "so as a first timer, what type of pedicure would you recommend miss?"

Ling gave Wanda a gentle smile and took the menu from her ad gave it a quick once over before looking back at Wanda "I'd recommend a stone pedicure Mamn" Ling told her "It is Basically a foot massage that involves the use of different essential oils that are rubbed with the help of hot stones for the massage of the feet and legs." She explained. Wanda in response looked at her feet. The idea of them being cradled and messaged was not unwelcome but to be pampered.

Darn it Stark was really rubbing off on her right now. "So long as its not expensive she started somewhat sourly "Laura is paying for it so I don't want to be greedy"

Laura just smiled and nodded her head. Of course" she stated, before going over to Laura and taking her menu as well.

After a few moments Laura turned to Wanda "Are you ready for this?" she asked.

Wanda just gave Laura a somewhat unamused look "what's the worst that can happen?" she asked dryly.

* * *

An hour later Wanda all but stomped out of the Spa, feeling utterly embarrassed her face red and her hands shaking with discomfort. "What was the worst that could happen" she said. Oh there were so many things that went wrong with her spa day that she wanted to leave this place and never come back. As soon as she was able to put her shoes back on she all but ran from the store, leaving Laura and a trail of despair behind her trying to block out the snickering she heard from everyone who was witness to her plight. She waited outside the store briefly, her head in her hands to cover her crimson cheeks from view. However as soon as she saw Laura exit she made a beeline for the next destination on Laura's list, which was more of a cosmetic store for home use. In sort Laura wanted Wanda to by makeup.

Why Wanda even needed it was a mystery to her since she never used such things. But she didn't dare go against her wishes, since she didn't want to hurt her feelings.

The same could not be said for Laura. Laura was trailing behind her a amused grin on her face her sides hurting from laughing so hard during her time at the spa. She couldn't believe what had happened in there. Of all the things that could have crossed her mind at that moment, se never expected that Wanda the enhanced Sokovian with a talent for hypnotism and magic would be rendered powerless by the spa employees finding her one and only weakness. Ticklish feet.

"Don't you dare breathe a word about this to Clint!" Wanda snapped as she walked beside Laura through the concourse of the mall. Laura just giggled at Wanda's childish reaction shrugging her shoulders "No promises dear." She stated, "You have to admit that was pretty funny to watch."

Wanda just shot Laura a pout, folding her arms across her chest petulantly and looked away from Laura. She was almost as bad as Clint when it came to her teasing. But unlike Clint she didn't want to use her powers on her out of spite.

But she did want to erase the memory of everyone within a 100-mile radius of that Spa. Mainly because it was one of the most embarrassing moments in her life.

"I never want to do that again!" Wanda told Laura who just placed a hand on Wanda's shoulder and with a sky grin asked "you don't want to laugh again?" she asked teasingly.

"NO!" Wanda shouted, much louder than she had intended to and she covered her mouth in horror, before realization kicked in and she all but ran away and out the door, wanting to escape the situation.

Seeing that Wanda was in distress Laura decided that maybe it would be best to call it a day early. Wanda didn't seem to keen on the idea of a girls day anymore and if it was anything like the spa experience would only serve to embarrass her even further and that was the last thing that Laura wanted to do to her. "How about we just go grab something on the way home then and call it a day? She asked her.

Wanda couldn't have agreed more nodding her head rapidly before picking up the pace, heading back in the direction of the exit.

Laura just laughed and followed Wanda. She was so going to tell Clint about this when Wanda wasn't around.

"I heard that" Wanda yelled angrily as she looked back at Laura with her eyes blazing angrily, causing Laura to laugh even harder at Wanda's reactions.

Wanda was in such a rush to leave the building that when she turned to look back in the direction she was walking, she accidently bumped into someone passing by.

In surprise, she yelped loudly, instinctively jumping away to avoid having her personal space intruded. After managing to calm herself down she looked at the person she bumped into and to her surprise, despite having the brief adrenaline rush from the shock of colliding with someone and the subsequent cool down upon the realization she was safe, her heart began to beat even faster as she drank in the appearance of who she bumped into

He stood about her height, give or take a few inches, his fair skin not a dissimilar shade to her own. His hair was a dark brown, a sharp contrast to his bright blue eyes which were like oceans that Wanda could just drown herself in. his build was startlingly similar to Pietro's and despite the awkward comparison only seemed to elevate her heartbeat even further.

To her surprise a dark red blush started to stain her cheeks and she found herself bereft of any and all words, her brain becoming an addled pile of mush.

Thankfully however it seemed the stranger took it much better and he just gave her a soft smile (damn you butterflies!, Wanda wanted to scream angrily) and said "sorry about that." in a dismissive yet polite manner before walking way.

Wanda just stood there watching the strangers retreating back, her blush not fading whatsoever. She felt warm and for the firs time in her life a surge of fresh new emotions that she couldn't quite identify. It didn't help that Laura chose at that moment to catch up with her and noticing the clear red blush that adored her pale skin let out a wolf whistle "well he was certainly a looker wasn't he?" Laura asked

In truth she hadn't really seen the person that Wanda had bumped into since Wanda had all but sped away from her, but having been young once herself she was easily able to identify the look on Wanda's face.

"yeah…." Wanda responded dreamily still looking at the person she bumped into before her words caught up with her and she looked at Laura as if realizing she had just spoken to her "wait what?" she squeaked. Yes you heard that right. Wanda Maximoff, enhanced individual Avenger in training and slayer of killer robots, just squeaked like a love-struck Schoolgirl

Laura just smiled "its alright Wanda, I wont tell" she said with a wink "Now come on, are you going to keep standing there or are we going to get something to eat?" she said before continuing in the direction of the Barton family truck.

Snapping out of her daze, Wanda shook her head and followed after Laura, but try as she might, she couldn't seem to get the stranger's face out of her mind.

* * *

When the two returned to the farm, Wanda could tell that Laura was in for a doozy because they hadn't been gone for more than a few hours and the place had already descended into chaos. It seemed to Wanda that Laura was truly the only responsible parent based on what she was seeing because there was no way in any realm that this would happen when Laura was around.

Here she was watching Clint Barton SHIELD agent famed Avenger and consular of his friends, playing with what appeared to be a sack of flour and a water hose with Cooper and Lila, the yard completely drenched with water and covered in white powder as were the participants of the little firefight. Clint's laughter rang throughout the backyard and it was echoed by the children's laughter, clearly having a grand old time.

It made Wanda's heart swell with love seeing the family act so carefree and the emotions lingered in the air like a warm breeze.

"What is going on here!?" Laura screamed in outrage. Well it was fun while it lasted. The Bartons looked at the returned Laura, her arms folded and a scowl on her face, tapping her foot as she awaited an explanation of the actions folding in front of her.

Everyone dropped whatever it was they were holding, standing rigid under the gaze of the frightening housewife. "well?" she pressed, walking right up to her husband, who shrank back, fearful. There was nothing he could do or say to appease his wife for he was caught red-handed with the evidence. So rather than make things harder for himself, he just shrugged instead and said "well we were planning on making cookies." He told her "But things kind of got out of hand so we moved it outside before we could do anymore damage to the kitchen."

Oops. He might have just said too much. Laura's eyes blazed with fury and she shouted "what happened too my kitchen!" without waiting for a response she marched past Clint and straight into the house.. not a few moments later, her enraged shriek could be heard from inside the house.

"Clint Francis Barton you get your butt in here right now!" she roared in indignation. Clint just gulped and looked at Wanda who had a devious smirk on her face "You wouldn't happen to be willing to make her forget what she saw in there would you kid?" he pleaded kindly.

Wanda's smirk only grew. Time for payback with the bike incident "Oh no, Clint this is all on you." She chuckled with her arms crossed over her chest.

Clint Barton was not seen or heard from ever again.

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**Ok, Sorry if this chapter isnt that good I've been fighting a cold. Hopefully chapter 5 won't be the same way.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello. Back for chapter number 5. This is probably the chapter you have all been waiting for. Wanda finally meets her beau. Do note though that he wont be in every chapter forthcoming. I think one of the biggest flaws of an OC in this fandom is cramming them in a much as possible. many times they try to become integral to the plot of the films which doesnt always work since the movies dont always have room to fit an OC since it wasnt designed to do so.**

**but for now enjoy the story.**

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In a somewhat ironic twist, Wanda had a decent nights sleep that night. By decent she didn't have too many nightmares, but she still felt a bit restless. It was more like she was just lost in a floating void devoid of any sensations, but when she woke up, she felt like her whole body had been numb and prickly with pins and needles. It was a weird situation, but she would certainly take it over waking up in a cold sweat any day of the week.

Blinking her eyes to chase away the remnants of her first goo night sleep in weeks, Wanda sat up in her bed just sitting there her mind not really going anywhere. Not that she needed to go anywhere today anyway. She and Laura had already picked up most of the supplies that were needed after their trip to the mall.

Today was her third day at the Bartons and to be quite honest, Wanda didn't want to leave. Clint had never specified when they were leaving and while she should be more concerned with her training as she did have a responsibility to the team especially since she fought for Pietro's sake more than her own, she quite enjoyed the peace and serenity of the Baron farm

That and she couldn't get enough of Laura's home cooking. Sure Starks base had some decent food but she enjoyed having the simpler meals provided by a caring mother figure than take out orders and quick meals like Stark did.

Sighing Wanda threw off the covers to her bed and heaved her protesting bones off of the comfy mattress. She did have to wait until she regain all feelings in her limbs to do so, but once she did, she let out a tired yawn before making her way to the bathroom to start her daily routine.

Shredding herself of the oversized shirt she wore to bed, Wanda grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a t shirt going to the bathroom to change.

After entering the bathroom Wanda took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. Compared to the past few nights her eyes weren't sunken in from lack of sleep and her gaze wasn't as sullen and tired as usual.

In short she looked much healthier. Though she didn't understand why. It wasn't like she woke up feeling any different emotionally or with a sudden burden off her shoulders. Yet still she felt different.

Shrugging it off, Wanda proceeded to wash her face and fix her hair, before hanging into more appropriate cloths for the day, making sure to take her PJ's and throw it in the laundry basket that Laura kept for her. However as she did o she noticed that it was fairly full, or getting here, considering she had been here for a few days.

'Laura did say that I should leave this in the Laundry room whenever I needed to wash a load" she muttered to herself..

Making her way down stairs Wanda carelessly shoved the bag in the middle of the Laundry room before going to grab some waffles in the kitchen. It was lucky that Laura woke up early every morning to make breakfast whether it be for Nathanial (bless that Baby, Wanda just wanted to hold him in her arms forever)., the children or the adults.

Speaking of which…

Wanda poked her head in the living room, where, none to her shock, she found Clint still lying on the couch after his wife banished him from the bedroom. Much to Wanda's amusement, it seemed that Clint virtually had no power in his own home. Se had spent quite a bit giggling overhearing Laura yell at him last night for making a mess of her beloved pristine kitchen.

So here he was looking like a spoiled brat being arms crossed over his chest mumbling incoherent nothings about his predicament (which Wanda could tell by reading his mind). He didn't even notice the young girl, who giggled silently before continuing on her way to the kitchen.

As she entered the room, she was met with chortling coming from the baby station in the corner. Laura it seemed was in the middle of changing Nathanial's diaper this morning. "Good boy Nate!" she cooed at the infant before blowing raspberries on his stomach. The baby let out a loud giggle in response before Laura finished her task. Wanda smiled at the display in front of her before gently knocking on the doorframe to get Laura's attention.

"Morning!" she said as she walked over to the kitchen table where Laura had graciously left waffles. Laura turned to Wanda Nathanial in her arms, giving her a smile. 'Morning Wanda!" she replied to the Sokovian, before looking over Wanda's appearance. "You look chipper this morning." She surmised with a twinkle in her eye.

Wanda, who was busy setting up a plate filled with the fluffy buttery goodness that was her new favorite breakfast, stopped what she was doing and looked at her hostess with a confused loo "Really?" she asked. She had noticed her less depressed appearance, but she didn't think she had changed that much.

Laura nodded Clint told me you hadn't been sleeping very well" she explained 'then there was what happened when you first arrived." Wanda's gaze lowered at the mention of that night. She was both mortified that she interrupted everyone's peaceful nights with her outburst and saddened by the reminder of the loss of her brother. She bit her lip before returning her gaze to Laura "I'm sorry, I didn't mean." She started but Laura looked at her with a sympathetic look, cutting her off "Dear, you have nothing to be sorry for. You are a young woman going through many changes in such a short time, doubly so since you just fought a war. That's bound to have plenty of affect on your psych." She nodded in Clint's direction "when Clint first became an agent he suffered some nightmares. He wouldn't talk about in much, because he didn't want me to worry, but I could see it on his face." she closed her eyes breathing deeply as she thought about that time in her life. Watching her husband internally destroy himself because he was racked with guilt over his actions was not a fun experience. "It changes a person Wanda and you don't have to fee ashamed. It will take time, but one day you'll be able to reconcile your experience and rise above them."

Wanda understood what Laura was saying. It was why she was here after all. Clint had wanted her to be like normal girl and to escape from the more familiar urban city surroundings she was accustomed to. It wasn't like it hadn't worked either; se felt far more relaxed than she did at the compound. Plus she had spent the past few days being treated like family with the Bartons, for which she was grateful.

The only thing she hadn't really managed to do thus far was reconcile with Pietro's death. In fact she almost avoided entirely. She hadn't even mourned for him after he died, just killed UItron and many of his robots. She joined the Avengers to honor his sacrifice to Hawkeye, whom she would forever feel indebted to but she hadn't honored Pietro himself.

The only time she had come close was after his funeral several weeks before

_Wanda stood in an all black dress graciously provided to her by Natasha in front of Pietros grave. her hands clasped together in front of her tears streaking down her cheeks as she looked at the headstone the carried her brothers name. the funeral had been short with Pietro dressed in a suit and gently placed in his casket, before it was shut and buried._

_Wanda hadn't even been able to stay for the entire proceeding. After the casket was closed she all but ran and hid in her room until Steve came by to check up on her saying that the funeral was over and where she was ready Wanda could come out to join the others for dinner if she wanted. _

_Instead she trudged back to the gravesite where she now stood just looking at her brothers headstone. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you." She whispered in agony I told you not to come back for me until everyone was safe. I didn't think about yours." Wanda placed one of her hands on the gravestone, tears dripping on the smooth surface 'I promise you brother, to fight as you would and never let anyone suffer as I have suffered. I- I love you" she told the gravestone before turning and trudging back to the compound to meet with the others._

Needless to say she hadn't really kept that promise because she spent most of her time wallowing in self-pity since then. The words she said to herself hadn't really sunk in for she kept blaming herself for her brother's death. THEY chose to help Ultron, THEY chose to fight that battle, knowing full well the risk of losing their lives in the process.

But what Laura said was true. It was going to take time, regardless of anything, those demons would never be quelled the way she wanted them to be.

"I" she began but she really didn't know what to say to something like that. the thing was, it definitely wasn't a painless process and Laura could talk about it all she wanted but she never had to deal with the experience herself, not that Wanda wanted the woman to do so. Instead she just turned away from Laura and began eating, silently indicating that she wanted to end the conversation.

Laura understood and instead took her infant son to his highchair at the table, which was conveniently next to Wanda. After securing him in the seat, Laura quickly returned to the kitchen likely to grab a baby bottle for Nathanial.

That was actually one of Wanda's first questions when she met Laura. Why didn't she feed Nathaniel the natural way rather than using a baby bottle. Not that Wanda was interested in Nathaniel's feeding schedule but it had been a question that she blurted out like an immature child when she was still not sleeping very well.

Long story short it was because Laura didn't want to make Wanda feel uncomfortable while still being with the family. Sad part is Wanda herself became embarrassed just for asking.

On the bright side Nathaniel seemed to take a liking to Wanda from the first moment he saw her, as the first night at dinner would tell everyone.

_Wanda continued eating her pasta after Cooper finally stopped badgering her with questions. She didn't mind the questions nor was she as annoyed with answering them like Laura was, but it did make her uncomfortable to use them so childishly, especially since she didn't under stand them all to well. that and "accidently hurting a child via levitation" was not something she wanted to explain to anyone._

_That being said it was hard to focus on anything when the pasta was as delicious as it was. It wasn't anything special, just some marinara but Wanda couldn't help but wish she had something like this every day. Unfortunately though she could feel some emotion in the air that her powers were having trouble ignoring. It was something akin to a heart monitor slow and steady but then it would speed up briefly before calming down then repeating the cycle over and over again. it would wash over her again and again making it hard to enjoy her meal. Not irritating but a distraction none the less._

_Placing her utensils down, she briefly glanced around the table. Everyone was still eating except for the baby himself, who was gazing at Wanda with curious eyes; once Wanda made direct eye contact with him, Nathaniel smiled widely and let out a small chortle of sorts, reaching both of his tiny hands out to the young Sokovian as if calling out to a teddy bear, before vocalizing several cries as if begging for her attention. Clint seemed to notice and gazed at his infant son, before following the child's eye and found himself staring at his ally, causing the father to break out into a warm smile. "It seems our little Nathaniel likes you Wanda." He said as the baby continued to reach out to Wanda._

_Wanda couldn't help but smile back at the infant, who was seated next to Laura. Gently standing up, she made her way over to her friend son, who squealed with happiness at getting Wanda's attention and he raised his hands up grasping the air as if to say 'take my hand'_

_Smiling sweetly Wanda extended her hand to the child letting him grasp her index finger Nathanial giggled as he shook Wanda's finger like a fisherman who caught his prey._

_It was a sweet moment. and in that moment all of Wanda's negative emotions drained away._

It now had become routine for Wanda to play with the infant whenever they were in the same room together. At least until she went to bother Clint with something or help Laura around the house. Speaking of which…

Clint trudged his way into the kitchen, still scowling but it quickly vanished when he saw his wife son and ally in the kitchen; Laura had just finished the baby bottle and was walking over to the table, while Wanda alternated between playing with the baby and eating her waffles.

What a wonderful sight to wake up to in the morning am I right? or it would be if Laura wasn't giving Clint the evil eye. She spent all night cleaning the kitchen (or rather having Clint do it since it was his mess) so needless to say her temper was a bit short with the lack of sleep she had gotten.

Clint gulped remember what had happened before his couch side banishment and wisely ignored his wife (aside from saying a pleasant "good morning" and went to the coffee pot to make a cup of coffee this morning.

Wanda, still eating her breakfast looked at Clint and giggled slightly before asking "are you still going to teach me how to ride that motorcycle she asked with a smug look on her face (Laura had told Clint not to treat Wanda too much like a child. She would still have to ride the bike but Laura was making sure that Clint taught her to ride the motorcycle sooner rather than later).

Clint looked at Wanda in response and nodded, giving her a smile "Just let me have my morning cup then we can go kid" he stated. Gathering the ingredients to make the cup he so desired. Wanda just laughed at his misfortune and finished her breakfast before spending some time playing with Nate while Clint had his morning coffee.

After Clint had his coffee, he led Wanda to the quinjet, where they took Natasha's motorcycle from its resting place and took it to the edge of the remote Barton farm where they would be able to practice without the revving engine being so loud as to disturb the other members of the family.

Needless to say Wanda was really looking forward to driving this sweet powerful vehicle more than she was learning to actually drive a car. Clint said that would need to be done too, but a motorcycle fit Wanda's preference more than a car did and it was a far more useful tactical advantage in tight spots.

Clint parked the bike in a patch of grass making sure it would stay upright before turning to Wanda and gave her the sternest most serious look that she had ever seen him give her in the short time she had known him. "Now you listen to me Wanda Marya Maximoff!" he growled "I may no longer be an Avenger but listen to me when I tell you, this!" he gestured to the vehicle "Is not a toy. People can die on this thing if you are not careful. It is my job to make sure you are properly prepared to use this when the time comes. Can I count on you to be a good student?"

Wanda would have giggled at he seriousness of the display before her but seeing that Clint had that crazy look in his eye stood up straight and gave him a determined nod. "Yes" she said confidently

Clint's stern façade faded into a sly smile before he turned and patted the seat of the Motorcycle "Then hop on" he said

Wanda quickly sped towards the bike only for Clint to stick out his arm in front of her, his stern attitude reappearing "Gently!" he chided her.

Curbing her enthusiasm Wanda made her way towards the bike and sat on the seat, shifting her limbs to make sure she was on it properly

"Ok" Clint stated "remember these key points about being on the motor cycle at any point Wanda. The hand clutch lever is typically located on the left handlebar and is used to disengage the power from the rear wheel when shifting gears." Wanda placed her hand on the clutch getting a feel for it, looking at Clint for confirmation

Once Wanda was in the proper position, Clint continued "The gear shifter is typically located by your left foot and is used to shift one gear up or down while you're pulling the clutch lever." Wanda shifted her left foot, getting used to the gear shifter "The throttle is on the right handlebar and used to accelerate. The handbrake, which applies the brakes to the front wheel, is the lever on the right handlebar." Wanda moved to grasp the throttle testing its movement"The lever on the right side of the bike near your foot works the rear brake." Wanda shifted her right foot enjoying the lesson already

"Finally, as a rule, the left side of your motorcycle controls gears, while the right side controls acceleration and braking." Clint finished "But by no means does this make you an expert. Knowing is half the battle." He explained, before going to the bike and turned the ignition.

Wanda nearly jolted from feeling the bike she was on come to life but steadied herself and fixed the gear so that she could stay n the bike without it falling over. Clint stepped back folding his arms and watching Wanda carefully "Ready?" he said

Wanda nodded before turning her gaze to the horizon in front of her. "Keep up old man!" she replied snarkily, before putting the motorcycle in gear and accelerating.

Only to go zooming off faster than she intended. With a surprised shriek, Wanda instinctively and abruptly hit the brake. This unfortunately had the side affect of causing the bike to stop short.

And what happens when you're not wearing a vehicle designed to have a seatbelt? Why gravity kicks in of course. Wanda, unprepared for the sudden stop was tossed off the front end of the motorcycle and she found herself flying through the air. Before she began descending towards the ground.

Thankfully her powers activated sensing the danger she was in and the red mist enveloped her in a protective bubble before she hit the ground. If only her pride could be protected just as easily.

Groaning in embarrassment, Wanda picked herself off of the ground, turning to see her beloved hot rod had fallen to the ground. Undaunted she picked up the bike and sat on it once more resetting her position. She put the bike in gear once more only to go through the exact same process all over again.

Clint sighed watching the poor girl fail time and time again. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

By the time the morning gave way to the afternoon, Wanda had more or less mastered accelerating on her favorite new Avengers certified motorcycle, but was still nowhere ready to actually get her license. It had taken her the better part of an hour just to stop falling off the way she did, but that only gave way to turning so fast she would still go flying off.

In short Wanda was doing a better job learning how to fly then she was being on her motorcycle. Clint was far from amused. If this was what he had to look forward to teaching his actual kids to drive me might be better of taking them to a driving school then teach them himself

Wanda on the other hand was having more fun than she ever had in her life. Sure she was tired, had suffered minor bruises and whiplash during the many hours of practice and was in desperate need of a break, but she was having fun and that's what mattered. Clint certainly was a patient teacher even if she was a frustrating student.

Unfortunately their training session was ruined when Lila came barreling towards herfather, who stood watching Wanda about to get on the motorcycle one more time before his children tackled him to the ground.

For a guy with great eyesight his ears need work if he can't hear his own children coming to greet him. Groaning from the unexpected attack, he sat up and caught a glimpse of his kids who were currently hugging him tightly and nuzzling in hos chest.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he said ruffling her hair. Lila looked up at her father with shining eyes and replied "Mom says you and Wanda have to get ready for dinner since you've been teaching Wanda to drive all day."

Clint chuckled and gave Lila a kiss on the forehead "alright tell her I'll be there in a minute." He said grabbing Lila and picking her up, taking her in his arms while he reverted back to a standing position. Lil took this as a cue for a hug ad wrapped her limbs around her father. Clint smile and squeezed his daughter gently in return before placing her back on the ground, nudging her back to the house "run along now!" he said. Lila nodded before running back to the house.

Turning his attention back to Wanda, who was about to rev up the motorcycle once more, getting her attention by whistling.

"Hey Wanda!" he called as she looked in his direction "Time to call it a day, Laura wants us inside for dinner."

The girl nodded and took the motorcycle to Clint. "You did great today, now why don't you go inside and wash up while I put this away.

Wanda nodded before taking off leaving Clint to return the motorcycle to the quinjet.

* * *

After washing up and having dinner Wanda went outside with Clint to enjoy the evening. She took a seat next to him in one of the rocking chairs. "Clint, I was wondering something."

"Yeah what's up." He asked still enjoying his chair.

"That lake we went to earlier this week. It wasn't far by car. Do you think I could walk there?" Wanda asked. The times she had spent by that lake were the most fun for her. it was very similar to a lake that was near the compound and Wanda enjoyed how beautiful it was a night

"Sure. It only takes about 15 minutes. See that path over by the side of the house? Stay on it and it'll take you to the lake."

Wanda smiled and got up and "I'll be back in a while" she stated. As she walked she heard Clint yell at her. "Be on your way back before 9! It gets really dark then!"

Wanda kept walking. "Got it!"

Finding the path and following it to the lake was an easy thing for her and when she got there, she smiled a bright smiled as she stood there in awe of the beautiful lake. She hadn't spent time here at night as they had left long before the sun had set, but as an adult not to mention and Avenger she felt she had little to worry about. Taking a seat, she pulled one of her legs to her chest and began picking up pebbles and skipping them on the water smiling the better that she got at it.

She kept this up for what felt like an hour until heard a noise and turned to see a young man approaching her with a large sketchpad in his hands. Her eyes widened as she immediately recognized him The young man looked about her age though maybe a year or two older. He was about Clint's height with short dark brown hair, blue eyes and fair skin. It was the same man she had bumped into at the mall the previous day. As he approached, Wanda stood up and she could feel nervousness radiating off him. not that she was doing any better because wow her brain decided to take a vacation at the moment. trying her best to regain her composure he cleared her throat nd offered him a sweet mile

"Hi..." He said still nervous but trying to hide it, somewhat of a farcryfrom his demeanor back at the mall. Wanda could hear his unguarded mind. _"God she's even more pretty up close." _She heard him think causing her to blush.

He started. "I saw you by the shore…. You… you looked so beautiful, I started to draw you…" He managed to ramble out as he held his sketchpad out flipped to the page with her drawing on it.

Wanda had to admit that she found the shy young man was cute as well especially with how nervous he was around her. In Sokovia most of the young men hadn't even paid her a second thought so having someone who clearly though that she was pretty was quite flattering. That and Pietro threatened to skin them alive him they ever looked at her. Letting her take a look, Wanda took a look at the drawing and she was impressed. The picture showcased Wanda as the center of it with her leg up to her chest and a sweet smile on her face. The picture looked gorgeous and Wanda smiled. "This is beautiful work. You're a talented artist."

The young man blushed back at her comment. _"She liked it? Oh thank god she liked it!"_He thought.

"May I keep this?" Wanda asked. "I know this is yours but I just love this so much."

"It's yours." He offered. _"Oh wow I can't believe she liked it that much! I thought she was just being nice."_

"I'm Wanda." She said extending her hand.

The young man shook it, a jolt of electricity jumping through Wanda's hand at them contact. "Xander."

Wanda smiled as the young man cleanly ripped the drawing out of his book and offered it up to her. Wanda took the age holding I gently so that she didn't rip the delicate sheet. "I'm staying with the Barton's for the next two weeks if you want to do some more drawings. Perhaps we can meet here again around the same time?"

Xander nodded give Wanda a smile that made her heart melt. "I'm staying in the house on the other side of the forest if you ever want to come over." He said gesturing to a path that led in the opposite direction that Wanda had come from.

"I think I will." Wanda smiled as she yawned. "It's getting late. I should go back before Clint or Laura get worried."

"Goodnight Wanda." Xander said beaming at her as she turned and left.

"Goodnight Xander." Wanda smiled as she found herself walking back with a permanent smile on her face and a jump in her step.

Once she made it back to the Barton's she could see that Clint had probably gone back inside and most of the lights were out. Wanda made her way inside quietly hoping to not wake up any of the kids or the parents since it seemed that everyone was fast asleep.

As she made her way to the stairs, her eyes caught the plastic tub of Nutella that was left on the high top. Wanda's walk and talk had made her somewhat hungry so she silently grabbed the plastic tub off the high top and pulled out a spoon and began snacking on it. As she turned around to head back up the stairs she saw both Clint and Laura standing a few feet in front of her. Their sudden appearance startled her so Wanda let out a small scream and dropped the plastic tub letting it bounce on the ground. Clint and Laura smirked as Wanda's face looked surprisingly similar to a toddler caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Clint turned to his wife and said. "I told you she had a sweet tooth."

Wanda dropped down to the floor and scrambled to pick up the discarded tub and spoon that she had dropped. "I'm sorry I didn't know you were still up I didn't intent to wake you both I was just hungry…"

Clint interrupted her by getting down to her level and giving her a kiss on the top on her head effectively shutting her up. "It's ok Wanda. No harm was done. We're all guilty of sneaking off at night to snake on Nutella."

Laura nodded as Clint helped Wanda back to her feet. He then took notice of the sketch paper sheet on the table. "What's this?" He asked intrigued.

He then grabbed the sheet and showed it to his wife. Both of them grinned at her. Wanda gave a nervous laugh. "It's a long story…"

* * *

**Ok,that is the end of everything written in "A Different Kind of Speaking". Time to get the story moving forward from here. now that Xander and Wanda have met, ****there will be plenty of sweet moments between them, so if you have any ideas for a date, feel free to share. :)**

**Till next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello. Back for chapter number 6. Finally moving forward with the story. you have no idea how happy I am about this. opera;lly everyone else is too. there wont be too much longer at the barton farm then we will move back to Newyork and truc along the rest of the Wanda filled Infinity Saga. If you wanna leave dae ideas or story ideas PM or review.**

**but for now enjoy the story.**

* * *

The rest of the night was a blur for Wanda. Despite their best efforts, Clint and Laura were unable to pry any information about Xander from her. Though she trusted them with her life the last thing she wanted was them teasing her about her crush. Of course this wasn't going to stop them from teasing her about having one, but the less they knew the better. Not that there was much she could tell them other than his name and his hobby. Given his close proximity to the Barton home it was highly likely that Laura at least was familiar with him or even his parents.

Then again she didn't even know his last name so maybe Laura wouldn't find out? Still Wanda wasn't going to take that chance. There was also the fact that Clint was an Avenger. Publicly he wasn't as intimidating as taking on Ironman or the hulk, but he could still do some damage and Wanda really didn't want to scare a new friend off. That was when she realized she had mentioned her hosts by name earlier.

In short, he probably already knew that she was staying at the Barton's if he was familiar with them and still agreed to see her again at the lake today. There was just one little problem that Wanda was facing right now.

WAS SHE GOING OUT ON A DATE?!

She had spent the entire night either staring at the picture he had given her or worrying about what she was going to do when she saw him again. All they had agreed upon was going to the lake to talk so Wanda wasn't concerned with getting all fancy but her social skills were less than ideal since the only person she ever spoke to her own age in recent memory was, well, Pietro and he was dead. Plus she really wasn't all that well versed in American culture, so there was the potential for awkward conversation regardless of pretty much anything.

Wanda had her work cut out for her and she really wasn't sure whom she could talk to. She didn't have anyway to contact anyone because she didn't have a cell phone with her to call anyone why Nobody had gotten her one was a mystery, though if she had to guess it was because it wasn't a practical item compared to the Avengers communicators and Wanda didn't see a use for one in the first place until now anyway, and she really didn't want to talk to anyone back in New York about this.

So yeah she was a bit on the lost side right now. The only thing she had going for her was her desire to learn more about Xander; the question was would he feel the same after discovering who she was. Even if he was able to piece together that she was an Avenger there was no telling that he would come to accept her as anything more than a broken individual considering her heritage and upbringing.

By the time morning came, Wanda had spent so much time worrying she didn't know when she fell asleep or even if she did at all. She didn't really feel tired with all the anxiety pumping adrenaline through her. She couldn't help but wonder if Xander felt the same way.

Yep, she did have it bad, even if she didn't realize it. the question was how did she act upon these feelings? what do normal American girls do when the like someone? She didnt want to talk to the Bartons about the situation because they were already being nosy about it but talking about it with someone back in new York would only give more people more ammunition to use against her. she had no doubt Clint would eventually leak the news to the others so either way Wanda was kind of stuck in a bind Ughh this was just to much pressure.

Sighing, Wanda puled herself out of bed and went through her morning routine, before going downstairs for some breakfast. As soon as she entered she spotted Clint with that wide grin, mischievously chuckling. "Don't" Wanda said, giving him a glare of annoyance. She walked towards the table grabbing some breakfast trying to ignore Clints unwavering gaze. Unfortunately for her, she could feel him trying not to laugh and it caused her irritation to no end. However not wanting to cause a scene, she ate quickly as possible and washed her dishes before bolting back to her room. She didn't have to meet with Xander for a while and given Clint's and Laura's attitude towards her recently, she wanted to minimize contact with them at any cost.

Unfortunately it seemed that the universe was not on her side because as soon as she made it back to her room to sit on her bed there was a knock at the door. Turning around she saw the one and only Laura looking at her with a certain Twinkle in her eye. "Come to try and get me to talk?" Wanda asked dryly folding her arm across her chest. Laura just laughed and walked up to Wanda before placing her hands on the girls shoulders. "Its alright to have a crush Wanda" she told her "I was young once too you know."

Wanda just gave the older woman a smirk. "That's not going to make me tell you anything about him you know. I'd prefer to keep our relationship private." She was aware that Laura was clearly trying to use reverse psychology on her to get her to talk about Xander and it was definitely not going to work. Laura laughed and pulled away from Wanda "Can't blame me for trying right?" she told her before going over to the drawers tat Wanda had unpacked her cloths in. "But what we do have to do is make sure your properly dressed for your first date!" Clearly she had far more enthusiasm about the situation than Wanda did.

Of course, hearing Laura refer to the meeting as a date caused Wanda to blush. "Laura please there is no need… she began but the housewife wasn't going to hear it. she turned right around and gave Wanda an amused stare. "Wanda, while you are in my care it is my job to make sure you are happy and healthy. I think making sure you have a good tine on a date qualifies under that category" she explained. "I may not know who you are going to see today, but if there is one thing I know from having been your age myself its that you want to impress a guy without going to far.

"Too far?" Wanda asked, before she realized the underlying meaning of Laura's words "Oh" she said causing her blush to darken considerably. Of all the things that she was expecting that certainly wasn't one that had crossed her mind. She never even had the urge to try it. Having it suggested to her, even as a forewarning for a date was pretty mortifying. Laura giggled at Wanda's reaction, before she began looking through her drawers once again. After a few moments Laura pulled out a red blouse and some blue jeans for Wanda to wear. Wanda watched her intrigued before Laura took the cloths and gently placed them on Wandas bed 'I suggest you ear this. Nothing too fancy, butt if your going to be outside this time of year it should be comfortable enough." Laura said, "Do you know when your going to meet this mystery man?"

Wanda just grinned slyly "I'm going to meet him tonight, and that's all I'm going to tell you about him." she said. "Good luck Wanda" Laura said before leaving the room. Wanda went over to her bed, looking at the cloths Laura picked out for her. She gingerly picked up the blouse and looked it over. This was the product of her and Natasha's last shopping trip. It was just meant to be used for casual purposes,; she never thought that she' use it for a date. A warm smile reached Wanda's face, her heart pounding in her chest. She already knew that Xander found her beautiful, so what would he think when he saw her wearing this? Would he be enamored wither even more?

What would he wear? God she was really getting lost in this teenage love struck storm that Xander put her in. she really needed to get a hold of herself. The good news was that she had plenty of time to get ready before heading back to the lake to meet with Xander; she could spend the day helping the Barton's before getting ready.

With a grin, she put down the blouse before making her way back to the kitchen to see what there was she could do to help for the next few hours.

* * *

Needless to say by the time the day was almost over, Wanda was begging to go back to the lake to meet with Xander. Clint and Laura took every opportunity to tease her when she wasn't trying to avoid them and it was all Wanda could do not to hex them with her hypnotic powers. As a result she was more than a bit irritated and desperately wanted to hangout with someone who wasn't going to drive her crazy.

After she showered and got dressed in the outfit Laura picked out for her Wanda was just in her bathroom finishing the look by putting on some makeup. Not enough to hide her looks but to accentuate it. Laura was gracious enough to give her some tip about it. She still felt nervous but Laura was quick to remind her that by being herself, Xander would be able to determine their relationship with one another, regardless of what it became..

In short she described it as "don't go into this expecting a relationship but don't deny yourself the possibility of a friendship turning into one of romance."

It wasn't something that she didn't want. A family, a normal life. There was a time where she yearned for it, dreamed to be taken away by a knight in shining armor. But that time had passed long ago, when she became an orphan. Pietro was the only person she could count on then and despite wanting to get closer to her allies didn't want to put a loved one in harms way, especially since they wouldn't be able to defend themselves.

But something about Xander just struck a chord with her. she was dying to understand this feeling enveloping her every time she thought about him.

Wanda certainly didn't want to get ahead of herself in that regard. While she knew she was attracted to Xander, at least by appearance she had yet to get to know him. if it was going to evolve into romance she would cross that bridge when she got there. The only other question after that was what would happen then?

But for now she wasn't going to worry about it, now was the time she was going to get to know Xander and just be a normal teenager for once in her life. Putting her makeup down, Wanda left the restroom and went downstairs to see the Barton's one last time for the night. Going down the steps and entering the foyer, she was met with the two looking at her expectantly, wide grins on their faces. She couldn't help but roll her eyes "you do realize I'm old enough not to have a pep talk?" she told them, causing Clint to Laugh. The last thing she needed was a recap of the bird and the bees. She had enough of that from Laura earlier He walked up to Wanda and placed a hand on her shoulder "I know Wanda, but it goes without saying that you should be careful regardless. Plus since you're being so secretive, we can't help but be a little worried" he replied. "But remember be back by nine and have a lot of fun. he continued with a chuckle. Wanda blushed slightly and made her way past Clint and Laura mumbling a quick "I will, before she all but ran out of the door and into the night taking the same path she did the previous night to go and meet with Xander.

* * *

With a skip in her step and a smile on her face Wanda was feeling quite giddy for her date (she still had trouble deciding if it was a date but for the ease of her conscience she decided t refer to it as such). At the very least it was just two people hanging out o get to know each other better. Honestly Wanda could live with that if that was the case. Didn't stop her nerves from shaking though

Before long the lake can into view glistening in the moonlight.. Wanda made her way to the edge o the lake, enjoying the view of the water. She stood there for what seemed like ages until she heard footsteps not far from her. Turning in the direction she heard them in she saw Xander approaching her and her jaw nearly dropped to the ground at his appearance. He was wearing a dark blue button up t shirt and white shorts, a very perfect counter to her own black and red outfit. Like herself, he had a wide smile on his face, and the slightest red on hi cheeks. It was clear to Wanda that he indeed noticed and appreciated her appearance tonight. Wanda made her way over to him and the two stopped in front of the other, just gazing into the others eyes.

Could you feel the love tonight?

Wanda fidgeted nervously. She had forgotten one small factor in tonight's events. How to actually start a conversation! She had been so busy trying to make herself look good that she had forgotten everything else and the problem was every time Xander came up her brain decided to short circuit. Go darn it woman just say something to clear the awkwardness out of the air! "You… You look quite nice!" Wanda murmured quietly, trying to shake the blush off her cheeks.

Xander just smiled wider taking one of Wanda's hands and brining it up to his lips, kissing it like she was some sort of princess, "Not as beautiful as you Wanda." He replied smoothly. If Wanda's cheeks were red before they were blazing crimson now. never before in her life had she been treated this way and judging by the warm feeling enveloping her body, she was rather coming to like it.

Gently taking her hand away, she looked at Xander and asked "so what I it you want to do?" she asked "I'm honestly not sure what to do." She told him. to her surprise Xander chuckled, a nice refreshing sound that made her spine tingle. "Its quite alright Wanda, but I figured we could just talk for a while and get to know each other more." He said with a smile that made Wanda's heart flutter with anticipation. Dimly, she nodded unable to meet Xanders gaze without her nerves shaking.. "there's a bench not far from here, I figure its better than standing or ruining your outfit sitting on the ground."

Ok that one made Wanda want to freeze in place. Clearly he had noticed her new look which only reinforced the idea he found her attractive. Never the less she followed him to the aforementioned bench where to her surprise she found a picnic basket underneath she looked at Xander confused. Xander just gave her a smile "I figured you might be hungry so I packed some sandwiches." He explained leading her to the bench before sitting down on one side of the bench and reaching into the basket. Sensing no harm, Wanda sat down on the other side watching as Xander took out a sandwich wrapped in some plastic likely to keep it from spilling, and handed it out to Wanda for her to take.

Smiling Wanda took the sandwich and unwrapped it, revealing a cheese sandwich. Her favorite. Gingerly she bit into it, taking care not to seem like she would when eating waffles. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Xander taking another sandwich and gently eating it as well. he was trying not to make a mess either it seemed.

Despite not wanting to, Wanda couldn't help but scan his mind briefly, since it wasn't protected much like the last time they met. To her surprise there was very little in his mind that she could scan. Not for lack of trying; she didn't want to invade his privacy too much after all. it was more the fact that all his thoughts were rather pessimistic and about her. from what she was reading he thought she was beautiful and he unworthy of her, but didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of her either, which was the only sliver of hope she could find in his mind.

She was so lost in thought that she barely heard him speak to her "Wanda?" he called gently looking confused as to why she was suddenly spacing out. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts and get out of his mind Wanda smiled at Xander and said I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" she told him.

Xander for his part just nodded "Of course, I was asking what you do with your life."

Wanda's smile faded slightly at that one worry filling her being. Xander must have noticed for he immediately apologized "I'm sorry, is that too personal for you?" he asked "You don't have to tell me I you don't want to."

Relief swept over Wanda and she gave him a nod "I want to get to know you more Xander I do, but I'm afraid the more you know about me, the less you'll want to." She said sadly, causing Xander to raise an eyebrow. Clearly he was surprised by her pessimism Justas much as she was about his. Wanda had to admit her reasoning sounded odd as well.

"Shouldn't I be the judge of that?" he asked gently. Wanda bit her lip knowing that he was right, but she still felt scared to talk about herself. What would he think of her being Sokovian, of being an Avenger? Would he stop seeing her as just Wanda, instead of a hero or a broken doll? These thoughts ashamed Wanda because she was feeling the worst about herself but she couldn't help it. it wasn't like she had positive reinforcement for most of her life, only assurances from Pietro and the Barton's, neither of which would be able to help her in this very moment.

Seeing Wanda's distress Xander offered her a smile. "In that case is there anything you'd like to know about more" he asked. At that Wanda could agree o she said the first thing that came to mind "what got you into art?" it was really the only thing she knew about Xander so it was the only thing she could ask but at least it made for a bit of conversation. Xander let out a chuckle and turned his gaze to the lake taking another bite of his sandwich as he did so. After swallowing he began to explain "what doesn't get me into art?" he replied "even in this small town, where so few people live there's life all around us. The trees they feed the tiniest of herbivores that live, the water home to the largest of fish that swim in it." he told her "there's just so much beauty in this world it be a same not to capture it in some manner he turned his gaze to look at her "like I did with you." he said shooting her a sly wink.

Red exploded on Wanda's cheeks at that statement and she averted her eyes from Xanders gaze once again "that's…." she fumbled for something to say. Never in her life had she been this flustered. The only person to even come close was Pietro, and maybe Vision ( but those were for different reasons, if she was being honest), but Xander was something else entirely.

"sorry that might have been too much" Xander apologized "I've always been a little to straightforward." He told her sheepishly. Wanda looked back at him and shook her head "no its not that." she whispered "I've just never been around too many people, so I'm not sure what to expect from them. " she took another bite of her sandwich and swallowed "It was jut me and my brother for most of y life she said after she finished. However as soon as the words left her mouth she froze. Why had she said that? Immediately Wanda began to panic her body shaking uncontrollably as images of Pietro's death rang through her mind at speeds only her brother could run. Her breath came out in shaking gasps and she suddenly felt the urge to vomit.

_"you didn't see that coming"_Pietros voice echoed in her mind a remnant of her dream several nights ago. Involuntarily, Wanda stood up from her spot in the bench and without even mumbling a quick sorry to Xander turned and fled into the night leaving the poor confused boy behind.

* * *

by the time Wanda had realized what she had done she had already sprinted all the way back to the Barton farm, ran p the steps into the house all but barreled through the front door and slammed it shut behind her like she had been running like a bat out of hell (which she was) startling the occupants of the house. She breathed heavily leaning back against the door for support as Clint came running from the living room.

Wanda?" he cried taking in the girl's disheveled appearance. He stormed up to her a wide eyed worried look on his face "what happened?!" he almost yelled at her, but seeing how she was hyper as it was, it was best not to make the situation worse. Instead he placed his hands on Wanda's shoulders and jut said "Breath Wanda, just breathe" he said gently. Wanda just continued to breath heavily for a few more moments, until she collapsed into Clint's arms sobbing like the most depressed person in the world. Clint wrapped his arms around her holding her like he would his daughter "shhh Wanda its ok…. He said "Its ok….

Except the problem was that to Wanda, it really wasn't ok. She continued sobbing in Clint's arms wishing she could do anything to stop the pain that was tearing at her heart.

* * *

When Wanda finally calmed down she found herself on the couch of the living room wrapped in a blanket provided by Clint with a mug of hot chocolate (apparently Laura always seemed to make it whenever the kids were feeling down and boy did Wanda need some relief) Clint across from her in a lounge chair a calm but angry look on his face. by scanning his mind Wanda realized that he was coming to the conclusion that whomever Wanda was with was the reason that Wanda was so upset. That couldn't be farther from the truth, and Clint was bound to know that, if Wanda was even able to explain herself without going haywire again. taking a sip of her drink she relished in the soothing warmth and taste before meeting Clint's gaze shifting guiltily in her seat.

"you've been sitting there for the past few minutes without saying anything Wanda." Clint said his voice steady but firm, indicating his impatience with the situation "I really don't like sitting here watching you torture yourself like this. Please tell me what's wrong." He pleaded gently wanting to help his friend.

Wanda responded by taking another sip of her hot chocolate gulping it down, before she decided to speak. "Nothing happened out there Clint, so you don't have to be angry with anyone." She mumbled "I… I did have fun with him…" he voice was so low Clint had to strain to hear what she had said, and he gave her a skeptical look in response. "If you had fun why did you run here looking like your world had ended?" Clint asked picking apart Wanda's logic. No one who had fun acted like this when it was over. "Hell Wanda you were barely gone for a half an hour and that includes the time it takes just to walk to the lake."

Wanda sighed placing her mug on the nearby table before burying her face in her hands and taking a deep breath "I don't know whats wrong with me Clint." She said her voice weak I know you brought me here to feel better about my situation, but… I can't help but feel at odd with myself. I want to enjoy my time here with you and my family but im constantly reminded of Sokovia; when I sleep I have nightmares, and Pietro haunts me every day no matter what. How do I have fun and relax when all I have are the memories that or tormenting me?"

Clint said nothing, just looking at Wanda with sadness in his eyes. He couldn't believe that the poor girl was torturing herself so much. Worse yet there was little he could say to make her feel better. He had brought her here to help her be a child again and while that had worked to a degree, the PTSD was something he couldn't relate to, in the sense of healing it anyway; it would take time. Plus there wasn't anything he could say that hadn't been said already. Wanda was just going through the motions.

The tears nearly burst out again but Wanda was able to hold them in this tine around "Its why I ran away. Xander… he reminds me of Pietro, to some degree, and I…. I can't lose someone like that again. I'm an Avenger Clint, he'll be in danger just by being around me." She lifted her head revealing her bloodshot eyes "You have a family, you know how that feels" she told him 'I can't… I just can't

Clint stood up "Wanda, just take the rest of the night to relax and calm down. Drink some more hot chocolate. Tomorrow we will do whatever you want" he gave her a smile "Maybe it will help to talk about this more as well. "

Wanda nodded glumly. Clint had a point. She had been spending so much time avoiding her feelings that it was affecting her every day life. Maybe it was time to talk about it.

That night Wanda laid in bed, an apology to Xander on her mind.

* * *

**Ok, Any thoughts on that? I just had to do it. Like i said Wanda has been going through PTSD and she is scared of what being close to Xander will do, even though she does like him. but What will Clint do to help her with that?**

**Till next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello. Back for chapter number 7. Sorry for the wait. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and oi hope it its you right in the feels.**

**but for now enjoy the story.**

* * *

Two days past since Wanda's disastrous date but she still hadn't left the house to go see Xander at the lake if he still went there nor make any effort to find him at his home (even though he had told her that his house was on the other side of the lake from the bartons). She couldn't help it. every time she thought about it the only thing that came to mind was the fact she was an Avenger and he was just a normal citizen and she didn't want him to be off put by the fact she was 'weird" as most people saw her to be. That and he would be in danger around her. it wasn't like she had a secret identity; working with the avengers gained her public notoriety; Xander would definitely be put in danger if she became involved with him.

yet the selfish part of her yearned for that special companionship with him. every time he was around her heart beat went faster and she could feel her cheeks becoming pink. She felt hot all over and had a strange feeling within her that she couldn't quite identify. She hadn't admitted it to anyone aloud because she was embarrassed about it, but she was able to identify that she was attracted t Xander because of it.

unfortunately it was her selfless side that kept her from going outside in the first place. The less contact she had with the outside world the better. Being a superhero was hard enough; trying to keep someone specific safe would only be a distraction. Hell she had been ready to die herself when Sokovia's capital became a meteor and the only reason she survived was Vision, whom was able to save her only because he knew where she was and there was no danger (aside from the aforementioned meteor crisis.) Wanda just couldn't have that on her conscious.

But would it be so bad to…. Wanda stuffed her face in her pillow groaning loudly. Why was she so at odds with herself? Here she was in her room currently trying to suffocate herself in her pillow because she couldn't make up her mind about what she wanted in her life and no amount of self hypnosis (even if she could affect her own mind) could help and she didn't have anyone to talk to about the situation; Clint kept everything off the record to keep his family safe while Tony was publicly known as Iron Man and the head of a major company with a girlfriend who had seen many dangers but survived through it all.

In short Wanda had two different examples of people who were able to have a normal life with two different situations with how they handled their professional life with their personal life. Oh what was a young woman to do.

Wanda proceeded to kick her limbs around like a spoiled brat screaming into her pillow with immense frustration. This was getting her nowhere. She needed to figure out what to do because if she didn't the lack of a decision was going to put her in a straight jacket. After a few moments she calmed down but didn't move from her position still faceplanting her pillow and breathing heavily. "God damn it" she muttered in annoyance before rolling over facing the ceiling instead. Sadly the change in scenery did nothing to ease her mind. how ironic she was here to get her mind off of the trauma she was facing and while that was definitely working she was now facing the problems of being a normal teenager and sadly couldn't seem to deal with that either.

Oh would everyone be laughing at her right now. she couldn't help but think dryly. At least Clint and Laura had stopped asking about Xander or her date with him.

Her musing was interrupted by a quick knock on the door. "Wanda?" came Lauras call from the other side of the door "are you awake? Its almost lunch time!" she told the young sokovian who rolled over and sat up on her bed in response. Wanda hadt even left the room for breakfast today having slept in heavily the past two days and she was obviously hungry because of it as her stomach began to rumble at the mere mention of food. blushing lightly she responded 'Yes Laura 'll be right there!" she said as she leapt from herbed and got dressed and prepared to leave her room.

After getting dressed in blue jeans flip flops a black tank top and her red jacket, Wanda left the room going to meet the others for lunch. She bounded down the stairs to the living room where to her surprise she saw Clint looking like he was waiting for her, a slightly grimm expression on his face "Hey kid" he said a sad undertone in his voice "Clint?" she asked surprised by the somewhat sulln mood surrounding her former teammate "what is it?" she asked Clint smiled sadly before plaving a hand on Wanda's shoulder "after lunch we ill have to pack your things; Cap wants you back by tonight."

Wanda involuntarily gasped, realizing that her allotted time with the bartons was coming to an end. She had been so lost in her daze that she had nearly forgotten that her stay was temporary (not that she would want to be a burden to the Bartons) and to be quite frank, she was not ready to leave the cozy retirement home she had come to like, but she knew she would have to. So rather than complain she nodded before saying "Understood." She gave the archer a smile before the two walked into the kitchen together where the rest of the Bartons were sitting with plates of food in front of them. the air was thick with sadness according to Wanda's senses; none of th bartons wanted her to leave and it showed. However Wanda just smiled through the emotions and sad "Good afternoon everyone, sorry to keep you waiting."

It honestly made Wanda's heart ache to just feel the heavy emotions in the air but during the dinner she decided not to dwell on it instead talking to her hosts like it was just any other day (and playing with Nate, whom she adored almost more than anything else; she was going to miss him the most) talking biut the plans that they had for the remainder of the summer, since it was approaching June the kids wanted to go on a vacation with their now retired father, who seemed more than happy to oblige his eager kids. god only knew the man could use one and definitely not to Europe Wanda mused as they had had quite a few adventures there before they had arrived in sokovia. Maybe Clint should try the beach. That was one of Wanda's most wanted destinations in the world now that she was close to the ocean in Newyork, at least compared to the inland country of Sokovia. Maybe she should talk to Steve about it when she returned later on today ( since he was the only person at the compound that might know anything about New york beaches)

Lunch seemed especially special though despite it just being some sandwichs coutesy of Laura. And Wanda finished hers slowly just to avoid seeming eager to leave since of course she wasn't. she wanted to stay, but her duty as a hero came first at this very moment. besides it wasn't like she couldn't come visit again whwn she had some downtime. It would be a good chance to meet up with Xander again as only she could find him before she left.

Finishing another bite of her sandwich she turned to Clint, who was slowly finishing up his own meal as well. "Hey Clint" she asked rather shyly (much to her embarrassment Clint looked at her "Yeah kid?" he asked "Do you think we can stop by the lake real quick. She asked trying to prevent her voice from warbling "I want to see if I can't see Xander before I leave."

Oh how she would come to regret asking that question for Clint got a mischevious look in his eye and he turned to Wanda with a smirk on his face "you wanna say goodbye to your boyfriend huh?" he asked snarkily.

Wanda's cheeks exploded with pink and much to her irritation her voice jumped up a few octtaves as she squeaked "H-he's not not boyfriend." And it really was a squeak. Her voice hadn't sounded that high since she was a toddler. She gave him a glare but he jut smirked right back. He had stared death in the face multiple times, so a teenager with a huge blush on her face wasn't going to scare him in the slightest even if she did have hypnotic powers (and Wanda knew full well what happened the last time she tried that on Clint.) "are you sure, I've noticed that you keep that picture with you by your nightstand." Laura said with a smirk that was errily similar to her husband, while the older kids just made kissy faces and noises in Wandas direction. Clearly they picked up their love of teasing Wanda from their parents.

"Laura!" Wanda cried outraged "I told you that in confidence" it didn't help that her squeak hadn't gone away, making her sound more like a whiny brat than and angry teenager not that one could tell the difference at the moment with her enraged glare and rich pink cheeks showing her emotions.

Everyone at the table just laughed. "Wanda's got a crush!" the kids chorused getting up and dancing around continuing with their kissy face antics. Al Wanda could do was lower her head and hide her blush with her hands "I do not!" she whined in response, even though they all knew that was a lie. Maybe she should rethink her decision to com visit. They would probably think she was only here for Xander, which didn't sound like a bad thing if all the Bartons were going to do was tease her about their relationship. But they weren't dating at all. they had only gone out once and it ended in disster thanks to Wanda's insecurities. Heck Clint knew this why would he be thinking positively about this?

Answer? because he just loved to get on Wanda's nerves Damn him. he resistance to hypnotizing them all was slowly slipping away. Wanda just sighed in irritation trying to will her blush away while everyone else just laughed at her expense. After a few moments Wanda was able to rid herself of her red cheeks and she sat in her chair like a confident woman glaring at her Avengers teammate and said slightly angrily "I just want to say goodbye to a friend." She emphasized the word to get her point across" so I would appreciate your support on the matter." she said folding her her arms her body enveloping in red mist slightly just to intimidate everyone into shutting up."

Clints eyes widened showing that he had clearly gotten the message and rapidly nodded his head. even though he was an old man (thank you Pietro) he di know when not to push his limits and this was one of those times. Pissed off teenagers were not something he wanted to deal with right now so instead he muttered a quick 'Of course Wanda, we can go check out the lake before we leave." He said.

Thankfully the rest of the lunch was quet after that other than a bit of small talk and very hyper requests for nutella as a dessert (which Wanda was all too ready to agree with; even after being caught like a kid with her hand in the cookie jar it was all she could do not to go out and snack on it again. after having the quick chocolate dessert, Wanda made her way back to her bedroom where she quickly got her cloths together along with any other essentials that she needed.

Just as she was about to finish packing however she spotted the perfectly preserved sketch paper that Xander had given to her when they first met. Wanda had made sure that it wasn't damaged in any shape or form when she placed it on the nightstand and she didn't want it to get damaged in transit on the way t New York either. perhaps it would be better off here until she was ale to find something to keep it safe.

It was odd really. Xander had told her that it was hers and for just a piee of pper with a picture of her on it, it was already a valued possession to Wanda and she couldn't imagine it not being with her or somewhere safe. Of course the Barton homestead qualified as being safe; Laura said the room wouldn't be touched except for the occasional dusting and Wanda just need to find a safe place to put it.

Smiling, Wanda took the sheet of paper and opened the drawer on her nightstand gingerly slipping the piece of paper in there before closing it. There. It was certainly going to be safe there until Wanda returned.

Smiling Wanda grabbed her bags and took them downstairs, going slow to avoid tripping with them on her person. The last thing she needed was to accidently hurt herself on the last day of the trip and put her self out of commission before she actually began her Avengers training. Though the extra few days of relaxation might be worth it to be honest, but she needed to be mission ready before a disaster striked not after. The Ultron offensive was bad enough and she didn't want that to happen again.

After she managed to make it down stairs without tripping over her own two feet, Wanda was surprised by Clint who strode right over to the Sokovian girl and took her bags from her giving Wanda a warm smile "come on Wanda don't tell me you were going to carry all these heavy bags to the quinjet by yourself" he said "Ill help you out" he said before walking out of the front door.

Wanda smiled her heart dropping slightly at the idea of not being around Clint or his family. They treated her like family; they actually admitted to feeling the same way on their picnic on her second day here. She was really going to miss it here. She truly felt like she was part of a family here. Not just on a team of individuals with super powered abilities but a true genuine family, something that she oh so desperately wanted to be a part of.

"Wanda!" Laura called causing said girl to turn to see Laura Cooper and Lila walk into the room, sad smiles on their faces "You didn't think that you would just leave without saying goodbye did you?" Laura asked, prompting the two kids to run over to Wanda and tackle her nearly knocking her over, but she was able to stand her ground and return the kids hugs with one of her own. Wanda couldn't help but smile holding the to kids in her arms. They truly felt like here younger siblings.

After they let go of Wanda, she found herself in Lauras arms. Wanda was quick to return this hug as well, feeling a sense of safety and security in Lauras arms not unlike that of her own mother causing Wanda tro sniff lightly as she tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. "Thank you for having me she whispered almost to herself.

Laura smiled "You will always have a home here." She told Wanda before the girl eased herself out of the warm hug. Giving the family one last nod, Wanda went out the door to meet up with Clint.

Home. The very word made Wanda feel warm inside. The Bartons truly had become her new family. Would Clint and Laura accept the idea of her calling them mom and Dad? The very idea made her heart jump and her body shake with aniticipation but she was too scared to ask them. It didn't help that she had frozen when they called her family. Shaking her head Wanda gathered her wits and walked out to the quinjet to meet up with Clint. Regardledss of her feelings there was definitely one thing that she needed to ask before they left. She ran up to Clint who was coming off of the jet free of the bags he had taken from Wanda, clearly able to secure her belongings on board. "Clint" she called running up to him. Clint looked at her "Yeah he replied as she managed to sprint the short distance from the farmhouse to the jet "Before we go, would it be alright if we went to see Xander really quickly? I want to apologize to him before we leave since I don't know if or when I'm going to be able to see him again."

She half expected Clint to grin and give her more grief but to her surprise, he frowned and said "If it means that much to you we'll go see the Dawsons." He said causing Wanda to blink Dawson? Xanders's last name was Dawson? Wait a second, if Clint knew that that would mean….

You knew who Xander was all this time? And youre telling me this now?!" Wanda screamed slightly outraged her eyes red with fury. Why was it everytime she felt safe and happy Clint said something that made her want to hex him?

Clint raised his hands in surrender realizing the magnitude of his mistake but he really didnt want to end up like he did with Loki, or worse thinking he was a six year old girl. "Sorry Wanda it kind of slipped my mind, especially since we were having too much fun teasing you about it." Wanda raised her hand threateningly getting ready to flick him into the jets front console so Clint quickly continued "but I can see that this means a lot to you so I can buy us some time to go visit them." He said "they wwont mind, " he told her.

Wanda and Clint left the quinjet making their way over to the lake where Xander had met Wanda before, where Wanda was quick to notice the bench which made Wandas heart ache all the more. She made her way over to it, tryin to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill. To her surprise there was a envelope on the bench where she had been sitting two days prior. The most surprising part was that her name was on it, written in what must have been Xanders handwriting because no one else here knew Wanda's name. gingerly pickin it up Wanda eyes roamed the envelope anxiety weighing on her heart. Why was this letter here? she had told Xander that she was staying with Clint and Laura so if Clint knew Xander why hadn't Xander come to deliver this to Wanda directly? Sighing Wanda supposed that she would only get answers by opening the letter. Carefully she ripped open the envelop not wanting to tear the paper concealed within it, before slipping the paper out of said envelope.

She tossed the envelope away, before scanning the letter, her eyes widening as she read each word on the page.

Wanda,

I wanted to give you this in person, but to be honest I was afraid to face you. You seemed to have a lot on your mind and despite our date, it wasn't my place to intrude on your life since you didn't seem comfortable sharing it with me. I don't mind that since we don't know each other that well, but im going to be honest with you. You deserve that much from me at least. I feel there is a connection between us; whatever that may be I'm not sure but I'd like to explore it with you. The thing is, I'm not going to be here by the time you read this letter as I am going out of state to college to pursue my dreams. Hope to run into you here again sometime.

From,

Xander

Wanda read over the letter several times tears ready to fall, before she took the paper and crushed it within her hands, furious that Xander virtually admitted to liking her but was abandoning her all in the same breath. What a coward!. She threw the crumpled ball off paper as hard as she could letting her anger get the better of her before she turned and stomped off in a huff screaming in outrage at having been treated like she had. The worst part was he didn't even tell her where he was going so she couldn't be followed even if she wanted too.

Clint watched her go relieved that he hadnt been the target of her anger ut couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl. Xander could have at least said this to her directly instead of through a letter regardless of his fears. But then again he didn't know the boy all too well so it wasn't his place to judge him after all. "Wanda we can go too his house see if his parents are—" Clint began but the enhanced girl whirled around her body flaring with red auras and a look of absolute fury all over her face. "Shut your damn mouth Barton!" she roared "I don't want anything to do with him! He has the nerve to get me to like him then just leave?!" she shouted angrily "ugggh!" she cried "I can't believe I actually - AHHHHHH!" she roared her powers going out of control, the wind whipping around her as her powers flared with a menacing explosion before she all but ran back to the homestead clearly wanting to leave as soon as possible.

Clint sighed heavily before her slapped his forehead and ran his hand down his face. So much for Wanda having time to heal. Now she was returning to New York with a completely different attitude. One of a very homicidal teenager. Steve was not going to be happy about this. Grumbling under his breath Clint followed Wanda out of the clearing and back to the homestead. He prayed that Wanda would calm down otherwise it was going to be a very turbulent flight on the way back to the compound.

* * *

The trip back, much like the trip to Missouri, was tense and silent, though for a different reason than when Wanda had left New York. There was little Clint could say to her to cheer her up about that matter; he had pissed her off by letter her know he was familiar with Xander in the first place. The last thing he needed was her pissed off while on the quinjet. Wanda was tense enough as it was, sitting there with her hands I her lap balled into fists her teeth gritting so tightly it was remarkable that they hadn't shattered.

Yep she was definitely angry. He wasn't sure how he was going to be able to explain what happened to Steve. Steve had his own issues with romance and wasn't the best equipped to handle them; in fact no body on the team was, since they were either naïve on the matter, couldn't really relate or went way to far off on the subject to be able to explain it to Wanda properly.

In short Avengers and dating did not really mix. So Wanda was not going to have a mentor on the subject for quiet a while. May god help those who are caught in her wrath.

The good news for Clint however was that the trip was rather short; he had managed to get to New York a little quicker by obviously flying faster. Wanda was so caught up in her anger that she hadn't really noticed that Clint was all but speeding (and most likely breaking several air traffic control laws in) in an effort to get her off his hands before through threw a hypnotic temper tantrum in the wrong environment.

Before long the view shifted from the open air thousands of miles in the air to the airspace of the Avengers compound much to Clints relief. Before long the commlink crackled to life and the familiar voice of the War machine could could be heard over it "This is Rhodes, to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with this morning?" he asked in a clearly fake over the top customer service tone of voice causing Clint to Snigger. "Nice to hear from you too Rhodes." He quickly cast a side glance at Wanda who didn't do much as twitch from the interaction going on between the other two "Im happy to say the plan was a success and I'm just brining my dear friend home from the holidays." Once again Wanda didn't respond.

"good to hear Clint, just bring the jet down to Hangar 1. The captain will be waiting for you."

"Roger that!" Clint responded as he piloted the quinjet to its intended destination, slowly easing it into the hangar until he managed to land it safely. Quickly putting in the appropriate command, Clint shut down the engines, listing to them whirr into silence, before turning to Wanda who remained as still as a statue.

"Wanda?" Clint asked gently, but the sokovian didn't respond. She just continued to stare at her lap, not doing anything to acknowledge Clint's words. Biting his lip Clint reached out to the girl, gently placing his hand on the poor girls shoulder and shook it gently, trying to get Wanda's attention "Kid are you still with me?" he asked a slight teasing tone in his voice.

Wanda finally looked up at Clint and for the for the first time, Clint saw that she had been crying tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were red and blood shot showing that she had been crying for quite a bit of time. How had he not noticed this?

When Wanda finally spoke the words that came out of her mouth shocked Clint to his core "I don't want you to leave Dad."

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**Ok, Any thoughts on that? I hope you enjoyed that twist.**

**Till next time.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello. Back for chapter number 8. Sorry for the wait. This chapter deals wih three of Wanda's relationships. Clint Xander and ughh Vision. but i have too since thi follows the MCU. Also will anyone be willing to do a cover for this story. PM me if you can.**

**but for now enjoy the story.**

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The words were spoken as if from a weak timid child, so unlike the Wanda Maximoff that Clint was familiar with, but he was completely unable to register that because he was still shell shocked from the fact his teenaged partner had just referred to him as "dad" the word echoed in his head like a spell enchanting him and freezing him in place. Dad. Only 2 people in the world thus far ever called him dad and even then it was "daddy" due to his children's age. The third person he ever expected to call him as such was definitely not the teenage girl sitting beside him on the quinjet looking like her world was about to fall apart if he so much as revolted the idea. Yet he couldn't help himself from letting out a slight gasped and looking at Wanda in disbelief. "Dad?" he blurted out involuntarily only to realize his mistake when Wanda flinched and much to his horror placed her head in her hands and began to cry like a baby.

Reacting purely on instinct after that Clint unbuckled his seatbelt and gather Wanda in his arms letting her cry her heart out until she could let out no ore tears and her body just continued to shudder from the sobs that racked her body. Thankfully the poor girl didn't fight his embrace, instead just melting into his chest. At that moment he didn't care anymore. What Wanda was thinking or if it was a bad thing or not. The only thing he cared about was making sure that Wanda got herself under control, regardless of anything else. Besides would it really be a bad thing? He wasn't sure to be honest but an explanation would help him feel better and leave him without any questions hopefully. He looked down at Wanda remembering that he had kissed the top of her head the night she met Xander. It had just been instinct that made him do that, like he would have with his children.

Was it possible that there was this familial bond between them? Was that why he was so protective of the Maximoffs during the Ultron offensive. Even he had to admit that he felt something like that when he had pep talked Wanda into becoming an Avenger and even when Pietro mocked him he felt like he was an annoying son more than anything else, if not little brother. But this pretty much sealed the deal. Wanda definitely hadn't said anything else he had heard it clear as day. "I don't want you to leave dad."

He saw Wanda as a daughter. And right now she needed him. The captain and the others could wait. Right now he and Wanda needed to have a little chat so that they could get to the bottom of this matter. He could wait as long as he needed for Wanda was still crying in his arms, though not as heavily as before. It reminded him of the time he held her when she had her nightmare that first night. Was that when Wanda started to see him as a father, or was it before that?

On the other hand, Wanda was slightly mortified by what she had just said. She couldn't believe that her brain and mouth failed her and "dad" slipped out of said mouth when referring to Clint. She knew that he reminded her of her long dead father but she never wanted to call him dad to his face since she doubted that he would accept it. So why had she done it? The quick answer was simple; because she felt alone with Xander gone and the days she spent with Clint were some of the best days of her life because she felt like she was apart of a family again and she didn't want to leave it. It was bad enough getting on the quinjet but now that Clint was going to leave within minutes from now (even if he spoke to Steve about her current mental state or anything else hat the two might deem important to talk about that was still going to be barely enough time for Wanda to adjust to Clint leaving again.

It wasn't that she didn't think less of her comrades here at the compound, but unlike Clint she lacked the close bond with them to consider them family, at least at the moment. The closest she could think of was Natasha who was like an older sister to her since they did a lot of things that sisters would do together, such as shopping. Plus as the only other female of the group, Wanda was certain that she could speak to Natasha about certain subjects that she wouldn't feel comfortable talking about with the boys. That being said she was aware of close bond between Clint and Natasha. The two were the best of friends even in the most trying of times and the kids even referred to her as Aunty Nat. did that make Natasha her aunt? If Wanda was in a better moo she might have snickered at the idea of calling Natasha "Aunt Natasha" which would likely cause the former assassin to look at Wanda in a whole new light, but as it was Wanda was just to upset to consider thinking about that. Besides she was going to have to explain to Clint why she had just referred to him as dad without any warning,

God this was going to be a nightmare to deal with. Maybe she should hex Clint's mind and make him forget what he just heard? It would save herself the headache of any explanation, but unfortunately her morals ruled out that possibility since there was no reason to hex him and that would cause more trouble than it was worth, considering the last time she tried, he would see it coming anyway.

She continued to cry in Clint's arms, the tears and shakes lessening with each passing second, taking deep breathes to ease her diaphragm back to normal. In. out. In. out. She could feel herself calming down until everything stopped and aside from some traces of tear left and sniffles, Wanda felt much calmer than she did before. using that, she pulled away from Clint looking at him in the eyes with a sad smile on her face.

I-I-m sorry Clint." She said with a warble in her voice "I don't know what came over me." She said failing to sound convincing enough to get Clint to drop the subject before the situation got any worse. Naturally this wouldn't have worked anyway considering the bombshell was little a more pressing than accidental name-calling. So Wanda's hopes were dashed when Clint gave her a slightly disapproving look and let go of her backing up a little to give Wanda some room so she could gather her wits about the situation and explain herself, even though he already knew the answer

If anything the look that he was giving Wanda made her feel suspiciously like a small child again and she clasped her hands together and returned to her previous position of looking at her lap she really didn't want to have this conversation but she was the one to open the door so there was no way that she was going to be able to shut it with Clint firmly standing in the doorway. She heaved a small sigh and bit her lip trying to stop the tears from brimming in her eyes at the mere tough of calling Clint her father again "I-Its just- Just that you remind me of my…. father." She said struggling to get the words out. "I remember when I was a child, he used to work as a nuclear Laboratory technician at a plant in Sokovia" she couldn't believe that she was telling him this, it was the first time she had spoken about her parents o anyone on the team, not counting Pietro recounting the events of their deaths nearly a decade ago to Ultron. How she was trying not to cry just thinking about it. "Every day after work he'd come home and Pietro and I would just run into his arms and greet him. he'd give Pietro a pat on the head and me a kiss on the head." Clint smiled softly realizing that was a small reference to the fact he did the same to his kids, not to mention the kiss he gave to Wanda only a few days ago. it seemed he was more like her father than he thought.

"He'd then greet my mother, who was a Romani traveler give her a kiss and we'd all sit down for dinner, since my mom would pick us up from school and cook us dinner with anything we had." That had been the highlight of their time as children Wanda's family didn't have much; they could barely afford school and supplies as it was, but her father had been adamant that the twins got a decent education and tried his best to make sure the twins and his wife were comfortable. Of course that all changed after their deaths and Wanda was forced to survive by stealing and hiding in any abandoned buildings; which were practically at a surplus in Sokovia. "Being with you was like that, and because of all of that and what you have done for me, I can't help but think of you as a father." She said her voice thick with emotion, as if Clint rejecting her would break her heart.

Clint watched the poor girls lip quiver with sadness seconds away from having her heartbreak and a small tender smile touched his lips at Wanda's words. He reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, before pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her like a father would his daughter, taking a moment to kiss the top of her head soothingly. "Kid, if that's what you want, nothing would make me happier than to see you part of a family; my family."

Wanda choked on her tears as they began pouring out from Clint's declaration and she openly began sobbing once more, this time with tears of joy. Clint held her in his arms once more grinning like a maniac despite himself as Wanda cried before she pulled away, wiping the remains of her tears though a smile was permanently plastered on her lips. "Thank you…. dad" she said her voice barely above a whisper, blushing slightly at the referral. Before Clint could respond however the radio crackled to life within the quinjet and Natasha's voice could be heard over the comlink "Clint are you liv in here? We've been waiting for the past few minutes for you two to come out. Don't make me come in there to get you two out." She joked causing Clint to chuckle as he turned to the console and activated the like on his end "hold your hoes Natasha me and Wanda were just having a little conversation. We'll be out in a bit." He said before looking at Wanda with a warm smile. "Ready kid." He said.

Wanda returned the smile, nodding as she stood up "Yes dad." She said.

* * *

The two exited the quinjet together with Wanda's bags in tow. Waiting for them outside the quinjet was the Captain himself Steve Rogers. Always one to check up on his friends.

Clint Wanda! How was your little vacation?" he asked politely "therapeutic I hope." He said looking between the archer and the witch. Clint and Wanda just exchanged sly glances, before the young woman looked at the Captain "I think it was exactly what I needed" she said with a sincere smile on her face. "Clint's even promised m that I can go back whenever I have time, but I'm eager to start my training." She said

Steve nodded "I expected as much from you Wanda; you've done well with your basic training but you still have much to learn, that is why as soon as you are ready you and Vision are going to have your first paring match. You think you can handle fighting your friend?" he asked with a teasing grin.

Wanda's eyes widened certainly not expecting that response from Steve. The first few days that she had been training before her vacation were spent trying to get a better grip on her powers, which even though she had a good grasp of them during her time with HYDRA and used them efficiently during the Ultron offensive still needed to be practiced with but this was the first time that she would be fighting against a teammate let alone one as skilled as the Vision; despite his naivety, he was among the more powerful members of the team, what with the mind stone that he had embedded in his forehead. Thor himself had stated with it on their side they would have one of the most powerful objects in the universe at their disposal. She had seen the power Vision wielded first hand and it made him a brutal opponent. So to fight it was definitely a bit worrisome. Not to mention, despite their short time as teammates, Wanda had to admit that she was a bit fond of the Vision and she honestly didn't want to harm him either. but it wasn't like she had a choice since she was one of the few that could stand up to him to begin with, and she would possibly fight beings with similar strengths so it would make for good practice. But that didn't mean she wanted to hurt her friend, even if it was just by accident. However she didn't want to seem unsure of herself in front of the Captain, especially after her heart to heart with Clint so instead she said "Let me just put my bags in my room and_" Steve cut her off "Ill take them little lady" he said gently grabbing the bags from Wanda "Vision is waiting for you in training room 3. Natasha is there to supervise the session, Ill be along after dropping these off." He said before leaving the duo to themselves.

Wanda turned to Clint a smile on her face now that they were alone. She smiled brightly and said, "I'm going to miss you…. Dad." She said shyly. Clint returned the smile before hugging Wanda "Don't worry kid, I'll see you around soon. In the meantime just work your hardest ok?" he asked before releasing Wanda. Oh before I forget!" he said his eyes lighting up as he realized something. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two items. Wanda recognized them as a set of keys and her eyes widened realizing that Clint was handing her the keys to the motorcycle that they had practiced with "Is that?" she asked unable to believe it.

Clint nodded "the quinjet will stay here; you'll have the bike at your disposal. ill take my own ride back to the farm. So you'll have plenty of time to practice driving the bike" he said with a wink.

However Wanda didn't recognize the other item, a small red device with what looked like a screen on it. she had seen in used in the higher ends of Sokovia but never knew what it was.

Clint must have noticed her confusion for he began explaining. "I had Laura buy this for you so you can contact us whenever you need to. It's a cell phone. Had mine and Laura's number's programed in it already so you can contact us whenever you want. I also left some instructions in it so you can read on how to use the phone properly." He said with a wink

Wanda took the items gratitude in her eyes "thank you… dad" she said before giving him another hug. To Clint's surprise she then leaned forward and pecked his cheek, causing the older man to smile, before Wanda let go and said "see you soon. Before running off to meet Vision and Natasha, leaving Clint to shake his head "You'd be proud of her Pietro" he mumbled to himself before heading to his personal vehicle to head back home.

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After leaving Clint in the hangar and Steve to drop her stuff in her personal room, Wanda made her way to the training room, passing by the familiar corridors that made up the Avengers new headquarters. Admittedly after spending time at the Barton homestead it didn't feel so much as a home at it did a base of operations but she was going to live here long term as it was really the only place she had that was within walking distance until she decided to move out and live her own life. Not that she was complaining. She may not have her family here but she sure had her friends and that was definitely something she couldn't live without either. Strangely enough though it seemed rather empty as well. There was no noise from the boys in the living room or people walking along the halls except her. Which was just fine for her since it gave her time to reflect on everything that happened while she was away, most notably her relationship with Xander and how angry she was at him for leaving her behind and not explaining where he had gone.

Had she done something wrong? No, she remembered that he had mentioned a spark between them meaning that he had to have been glad to have met her. So why all the secrecy? He could have at least let her now where he would be going to pursue his dreams. Or was it that doing so would have been too hard for him to say if it meant never seeing Wanda again if he indeed liked her. That at the very least gave Wanda a sense of hope that he was considerate enough to spare her feelings if that was indeed the case, but she only wished… she only wished that she was able to tell him how she felt if she knew that he was going to leave. Her cheeks heated up at the thought, but she shook the blush away not wanting anyone to see that because the last thing she needed was the news that she had a crush leaking out among the other Avengers. Clint swore he wouldn't tell anybody or Wanda would hex him for the betrayal, so she didn't have to worry about anyone finding out here unless she told them herself. That was something she definitely didn't want to do.

Besides she knew that he lived not far from the Barton's so there was a chance that maybe next time she visited them, that she could see Xander again and finally get to apologize to him about their first date. A small smile reached her face at the thought and her heart warmed. There was always that chance and Wanda couldn't wait for it.

Unfortunately Wanda was rudely pulled away from her musings by a familiar voice, and possibly the one person that she didn't want to see with that stupid grin on her face.

Natasha Romanoff, who was currently looking at the Sokovian quizzically. Trapped in her own little world Wanda had failed to realize that she had actually made her way to the area outside the training rooms, where Natasha and Vision were waiting for her. "What are you so happy about?" she asked Wanda. Crap Wanda did not need to explain this right now. or ever in her opinion so instead she just shrugged and said "Just happy. I hear you and Vision have been waiting for me?" she asked trying to change the subject.

Thankfully Natasha nodded and said "come along then, we will begin immediately" she said before entering the training room, Wanda trailing behind her. Wanda had only been in this room a few times during her initial training with the others and it still had that faint new room smell, causing her nose to crinkle slightly. It wasn't unpleasant but she still wasn't used to it at all. Oh well, she was going to have to deal with it since it was the only place with enough room to train after all. Slipping off her favorite jacket and handing it to Natasha for safe keeping Wanda made her way to the center o one of the training rings where she found Vision already waiting there. Wanda bit her lip still slightly intrigued by the Vision much like she had been during his creation. She wasn't sure what it was about him that unnerved her. She looked inside his mind and saw annihilation back when he was still a part of Ultron and she felt afraid to look inside his mind ever since even though he offered her the chance to do so, but Wanda didn't like using her powers in such a trivial way especially with those she considered her friends. But what unnerved Wanda about it was that Vision was very polite and cordial like a gentleman, so unlike the nature of the stone that gave him life. The same stone that gave Wanda her powers.

It had scared and intrigued her back when she first realized her capabilities. The experiments were horrible. Grueling and painful didn't even begin to describe how they felt it was lucky perhaps that the nature of the scepter didn't leave the scars since they were just exposed to energy but she would never forget being strapped down to a table and practically drowned within the energy waves. It made her wish for death or at east that she never decided to joining Hydra like Pietro had wanted to, and all she could do was wait for it to be all over. That unfortunately could not come quick enough, as it had taken days for even the lingering pain to subside.

The results however were more than worth the alternative. Had he and Pietro never gained these abilities, then there was a good chance that the earth itself might have been destroyed if the original Avengers weren't enough to stand against the overwhelming might of Ultron themselves. Then again there was also the chance that was only wishful thinking and Pietro might still be alive if they hadn't joined but what's done was done and there was nothing they could do to change anything in the past, at least as far as Wanda was aware of anything. Conclusion, Wanda wasn't willing to change anything (save for her brothers untimely death if she could) based on what ifs. It didn't do good to dwell on such things as Clint and Natasha had told her.

But Vision was her friend and even he was curious about the nature of his powers same as Wanda was. Perhaps they would one day find out more about their supernatural abilities but for the time being Wanda had to focus on the here and now. "Hello Vision" she greeted politely. It was the first time they had seen each other in a few days after all and he was practically the closest friend she had here, if his saving her during the fall of Novi Grad was any indication. It was one of many reasons why she had a fondness of him and why her fondness outweighed her fears. Besides since they were on the same side Vision was never going to do anything to purposefully harm her so other than anything accidental or minor bruising Wanda had little to worry about in this training session. The Sokovian girl got into a battle stance calling her powers forward, her hands and body enveloping in a red mist while lights blazed to life in the palms of her hands.

Vision responded in kind "Hello Wanda, I trust your vacation had the desired effect?" he asked in his smooth British accent, as he started to float in the air, readying himself for the coming battle.

Wanda grinned, he thought he could get the upper hand by attempting to distract her? That was going to cost him dearly in this fight.

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Later Wanda stood in her personal bathroom wrapped in a towel to cover her modesty, drying her hair after a particularly long and oh so desperately needed shower from her well fought fight with vision. It had been a close match but unfortunately for Wanda and her pride, Vision had managed to gain the upper hand after a bit of a stalemate, but Wanda wasn't upset by that much. She had fought well and even Natasha said she had managed to get a much better handle of her powers in a short time..

Wanda smiled as she continued to dry her hair with the towel, trying to wring all the excess water from it so her hair wouldn't get frizzy. She might be a hypnotic power-wielding Avenger but she was still a girl. She was looking forward to having the rest of the day to herself, maybe going out and grabbing something's for her room, which was still pretty empty aside from the necessities that a bedroom would have. It would be quite a drive from the compound, but Natasha always enjoyed shopping with Wanda so at the very least Wanda wasn't going to be alone during the venture.

The only question was what Wanda was going to get. She had a few interested but it wasn't like she was made from money and she honestly dint want to spend to much on personal affects, even if it was Tony's money. Then again Natasha was very persuasive when it came to making deals, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

Taking the towel off of her head Wanda returned to her room and went to the dresser, taking out a pair of panties to wear as well as a t-shirt and some shorts, before removing her towel and going ahead to try and put on her cloths

Just as she did however she heard an unfamiliar noise coming from inside her room and turned toward the source of the noise to find the Vision literally phasing in her room like there was no problem whatsoever in doing so.

Now if there was one thing that Wanda didn't like it was being startled, lord only knew that Pietro loved to tease her in such a way from time to time well ino their adulthood. But this was so far out of the realms of things that she would even consider that she did the one thing that came to mind the instant before she realized that she was safe because Vision didn't know any better

She screamed.

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**Ok, I had to do that. it seemed to make the most sense. I hope you enjoyed the tender moment between Clint and Wanda though. As always leave your thoughts**

**Till next time.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello. Back for chapter number 9. Sorry for the wait. I don't think this is the best chapter, but it sets up the foundation for Wanda's relationship with her teammates later on.**

** Enjoy the story.**

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It was safe to say that Wanda's arrival started with a bang, quite literally. During her time away, the remaining Avengers kept up with their daily routines, whether it be training, monitoring for any potential dangers, (like Rumlow who Steve had been tracking ever since the fall of the SHIELD Helicarriers, or Bucky whom Steve and Sam had been searching for tirelessly so they can help him regain his memories) or just relaxing the day away after a long day at work while trying to avoid the obvious pitfalls of being well known celebrities living in one of the most well known populated states in the entire country (it really was a wonder they were not hounded more often, but then again no one wanted to be near some of the most powerful beings on the planet with ill intent for them without having some serious backup) but other than that it was safe to say that things were rather normal during the week that Wanda was away at the Bartons. And while Steve Natasha and Vision were happy to see her again they certainly weren't expecting the sudden shock of hearing an enraged and startling scream coming from Wanda's room not several hours after she returned followed by a rather loud rumbling crash that sounded suspiciously like something had been thrown into a wall.

Steve had just been minding his own business within his office looking for leads on his missing friend and thinking about his loft life when a rumble shook the facility not to far from his location. "woah!" he cried, startled by the unexpected shockwave, so much so that he tipped over and the chair he was sitting on tipped over causing gravity to take affect and the poor man tipped over falling to the ground with a loud crash that was dampened by the carpet. Of course despite being an enhanced super solider that did not mean that the unexpected didn't hurt. Quickly getting to his knees, the poor captain rubbed his temple to dull away the ache in his head when he remembered that Wanda had screamed and all but sprinted in the direction of the young Sokovian's room in order to check what could have caused her to scream like a banshee and cause an earth quake in the process.

Thankfully Steve wasn't that far from the private quarter section of the facility and he managed to make it directly to Wanda's room in a relatively short amount of time. What he did not expect upon turning the hallway that led to the youngest Avengers room was a pile of drywall in the middle of the floor with Vision lying in it with a rather dumbfounded and naïve look on his face. "Vision?" Steve asked as he approached the Synthetic android, who looked in the direction of the Avengers leader and with all the poise of his predecessors British mannerism, managed to pick himself up and began to speak to the confused New Yorker "Captain Rogers I—" unfortunately for Vision a wave of red mist cut him off, slamming him into and through the wall next to him, much to Steve's shock causing him to look at where Vision went and the hole that obviously led to Wanda's room. It was lucky Stark funded them so they could fix the walls because something told Steve that this was not going to be the last time this happened. Sad part was he needed to figure out what could have possibly happened to cause Wanda to take her rage out on Vision (and by extension, her wall) after the training exercise the two had went through not even an hour ago.

Natasha hadn't mentioned any annoyance at least on Wanda's part nor Vision, so right now it was practically anyones guess, but being the soft kid from Brooklyn he always was Steve had a responsibility to his team regardless of the consequences that befell him, so he did what any born leader would do in his situation. Walked right into the line of fire so to douse the flames. Steve walked over to the whole that led to Wanda's room and stuck his head in hoping to talk to the telepathic hero without any problems

Biggest mistake he could ever make in his life. As soon as he poked his head within the confines of the private room Steve was greeted with the sight of a livid looking redfaced vengefully furious young woman clutching a towel over her body like a lifeline her eyes blazing with rage and contempt her palm out with her powers swirling around her hand like a tempest ready to strike.

It was not one moment later that Steve realized what had happened, but by the time he came to that realization Wanda had already noticed him (not that it was going to be hard considering that he was in her direct line of vision anyway) and boy was Wanda mad. "Get out of here!" she shrieked before blasting Steve with her powers. The poor man was knocked off his feet and into the air throwing him through the hole that Vision had gone through.

What did that mean exactly? Well you see, the confused synthoid had just managed to pick himself up From the unexpected team betrayal attack when he looked up to see Steve coming right at him. Now you may think that in a normal situation Vision would get hit by his airborne leader or at the very least catch him to prevent any further injury and or damage to the compound but unfortunately Vision didn't have the time nor the wisdom to realize this so he just phased himself to be intangible.

So poor captain Rogers went through the intangible Vision and crashed into the nearest object which just happened to be the floor since (un)thankfully gravity took its affect and Steve skidded to a halt just short of crashing into the wall

Vision turned to the slightly disgruntled captain with an innocent look on his face "I do believe that we made Wanda upset. Is there anything that we could do to make it up to her." He asked

Steve rubbed the back of his head but before he could answer, Wanda cut him off "GET OUT!" she shrieked angrily, causing Steve to jump up and run, followed by a still confused Vision.

* * *

Wanda, cheeks scarlet with embarrassment clutched the towel covering her still wet body tightly to her, still stared at the hole that she ejected vision through horrified. How dare he invade her room like there was absolutely no problem in doing so? She understood that he was very naïve but surely somewhere in that cluster of bolts and nuts and J.A.R.V.I.S and the infinite knowledge of the mind stone there had to be something that screamed "DON'T ENTER A GIRLS ROOM WITHOUT KNOCKING FIRST YOU INCOMPETANT ROBOT". He was lucky that the only damage she did was knock him through the wall; if it wasn't for Steve coming by she would have broken more than that. Stark wouldn't be too happy about his property being broken but he obviously hadn't thought of a woman's modesty when he redesigned the place, or at the very least the necessity of programming boundaries into Vision wasn't taken into account at the time he was created. . she was going to have to apologize to both him and Steve later but for the time being it would be best if she actually managed to put some cloths on before anyone else showed up to give her more grief.

The young woman sighed heavily before returning to her original task of grabbing her cloths. However with the hole in the wall she would have to return to her rest room to get a bit of privacy. At the very least she didn't have to worry about any more unexpected visitors causing any more problems at this point in the day.

Taking a moment to regain her composure, Wanda returned to her restroom and ripped the towel from her body before getting dressed in the cloths she grabbed, a black blouse and a pair of black sweatpants (since she had nothing else to do today) just planning to spend the rest of her day at the compound and get back to her normal routine. Plus she wanted a small semblance of her vacation to remain, as childish as that sounded. Not to mention she should get to know her teammates a bit more outside of combat. She knew somethings about them having read their minds when she was against them and knew some of Natasha's shopping habits but little else. Back when they had smores she mostly kept quiet, the recent events on her mins contributing to her silence. But her time with the Barton's had made her look past her negativity and she wanted to know more about her teammates a bit more socially than that. She wasn't really able to do that with Vision but the others she could. The question was, which one should she start with? She was the most comfortable with Natasha, being the only other girl on the team so she might as well start there.

Getting dressed Wanda left the room, careful to avoid the mess she made and followed the path to Natasha's personal quarters in order to begin her quest. It was lucky that they weren't very far from each other.

Now she stood in front of the door that led to Natasha's room. She might be surprised to see the younger woman this late in the day after the training session, but lie Wanda said she wanted to get to know her teammates a bit more without resorting to reading their minds to do so. Wanda gently knocked on the woman door, which was followed by a "coming" from the red head that resided on the other side of the door. Not a few moments later the door opened revealing Natasha in a baggy shirt and yoga pants, clearly having a similar idea to Wanda to just be comfortable for the rest of the day. "Wanda?" she asked clearly surprised by the younger girls appearance "I heard a commotion outside is everything alright?"

Wanda's cheeks pinkened slightly in response "Yeah" she said quickly not wanting to discuss what vision did nor the damage that she had caused. Natasha was bound to find out anyway when Steve discussed this to the team anyway to prevent Vision from doing the same thing again in the future. Besides Wanda was on her own mission and she really didn't want to get distracted from it either. "I was Wondering…" she bean, biting her lip in order to steel her nerves, since every instinct in her was telling her to run away and go hide in a hole by herself "would you like to just hang out with me right now? I want to try getting to know everyone better.

God it sounded so embarrassing just to speak like that but Natasha at least could understand where she was coming from, considering the times the two went shopping. Outside of Clint she was probably the Avenger that Wanda trusted the most right now Plus like Clint there really wasn't any chance that Natasha would speak out about anything Wanda told her.

Natasha blinked, clearly not expecting Wanda's proposal, but her surprise faded away into a rather mischievous look, causing Wanda's eyes to widen as a single thought crossed her mind 'Dad didn't…. did he?' somehow she wouldn't be surprised if that was indeed the case. Clint and Natasha were the best of friends and Clint did get a kick out of teasing Wanda about her crush on Xander so it shouldn't surprise her too much if he did indeed call Natasha to discuss living vicariously through her in order to get on Wanda's nerves all the more

Wanda was sorely tempted to read Natasha's minds to find out if that was indeed the case since Clint and Laura were the only people that could have even told Natasha about Xander, but even if they did Natasha wasn't that crazy was she? Oh wait she was a spy and an assassin, so of course she was. Besides Natasha hadn't said anything thus far so maybe she was safe?

"I 'd love too" Natasha stated, exiting her room and closing the door behind her. "what would you like to talk about?" she asked as she began walking through the hallway towards the common areas

Wanda cleared her throat and tucked her hair behind her ear as she walked beside Natasha only one thing coming to mind. She wanted to speak to Natasha like a regular woman would and if there was one person she could trust to speak to about boys here at the New Avengers facility it was Natasha. She was originally against it considering that Natasha had her own issues to work out with the currently wayward Dr. Banner but she had to have some experience being an older woman right? Well she could get to that eventually considering right now she just wanted to get to know everyone better, not talk about her own troubles "I just want to know more about you. I know that you used to work for SHIELD and you are an assassin who is friends with Da- I mean Clint and you had a relationship with Dr. Banner."

Natasha stopped walking and shot Wanda a small glare in warning. Clearly talking about Bruce wasn't something she wanted to do, so Wanda quickly changed tactics And I just wanted to get to know you better" she said quickly "I spent so much time with Clint that he is like family to me now and I wanted to do the same to you, since you are like a sister to him."

Natasha's glare faded away, turning into a small warm smile as she digested Wanda's words. Wanda could feel her emotions and she could tell that the red head was touched by her words, like the warmth of the sun was shining down on them. "Are you asking me if you can call me Aunty Nat like his kids do?" she asked teasingly a wicked glint of mischief in her eye that reminded Wanda all to well of Clint

_'Of course they would trade some mannerisms' _Wanda thought disgruntled "_it will make it easier to toy with me. _The two were the best of friends and had the most camaderie out of any of the Avengers. At least as far as she had seen. Steve and Sam, while friendly had a relationship similar to brothers in arms as opposed to very good friends (in which Natasha had a similar relationship with Steve) while Tony and Bruce were more akin to mad scientist buddies (or "Science bros" according to Tony._ War Machine often spoke highly of Tony, so it was more likely they had the closest relationship of their group. Of course this was all complete and utter speculation from what little heard from her teammates. The most about the relationship as with her friends she knew about was Natasha and Clint and that was from spending time with her newfound father and listening to all the exploits he shared with the redheaded assassin (in which he only shared the more grim details with the older and much more mature Wanda) during his time as a SHIELD agent. That's why she was doing this after all.

Its just that she wasn't looking forward to the idea of having yet another family member teasing her about her life particularly one so close to her father, if that's what Natasha ended up becoming to her. And if she knew Clint it was more than likely that he told Natasha about Xander; more accurately that Wanda had a crush on someone and the redhead was just waiting for the perfect moment to strike. She could already imagine the torment Natasha could put her through and the very idea made the sokovian want to hex Natasha in the place of Clint. Despite not wanting too, Wanda couldn't help but scan Natasha's mind briefly hoping to find some trace of Clint in there. It was better to be safer than sorry and Wanda wanted security in case Natasha did start trying to tease her. That way if the other female tried to playfully blackmail her then Wanda wouldn't be as affected by it as she was when Clint did it earlier. Unfortunately this proved fruitless because the only thing on Natasha's mind was a large amount of red and traces of green. She was still thinking about banner. Poor woman

But in any case Wanda was getting a little ahead of herself so she responded to Natasha with a small glare and a glower more befitting an immature teenager than an Avenger in training. Oh wait... "This is about me getting to know you." She grumbled sourly, causing Natasha to laugh and much to Wanda's shock pat the girl on the head like one would a small child, causing Wanda's frown to deepen as she lighly pushed Natasha's hand away in annoyance. Natasha however didn't seem to be phased by this as she chuckled even more, before she began to speak " you read my profile when you joined with Avenges Wanda, everything you need to know about me was in there; we don't keep secrets from each other unless we absolutely have to". Wanda couldn't help but groan at the answer but Natasha did have a point. Wanda did learn about Natasha's history through the files that the Avengers had on each other. There wasn't much, given that Ultron had erased most of the files the Avengers had before Wanda joined, but there was the essentials and Wanda had spent enough time with Natasha at least to make this a more social compared to her compatriots.

"Besides I heard that there a small incident with the Vision? Care to explain that?" Natasha asked her younger friend. Wanda stopped in place involuntarily letting out a small squeak as pink began to tinge her face. She looked away from Natasha not wanting her to see her enflamed cheeks; not that it mattered when she probably knew that anyway being the assassin that she was. "I…I…" she stuttered.

If there was one thing that Wanda didn't want to admit to anyone, even herself, it was that she had a tiny crush on the synthoid. She didn't understand why, since she barely knew the Vision (let alone at all when he was created), but she couldn't deny that there was something alluring about the Vision as well, but she just couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was about Vision that attracted her to him the same way she was to Xander. The thing was the two couldn't have been any different if they tried to be, from what little that she knew about either of them anyway. The only positive thing she could think of regarding a relationship with either of them was, in Vision's case at least they could bond over being different from other people while Xander represented a everything Wanda wished wasn't stolen from her after her parents died. Normalcy and happiness. Either way she would be happy with either of them. But that wasn't something she wanted to discuss with anyone, let alone Natasha. That being said she definitely didn't want to have to answer that question. It was embarrassing just thinking about it.

She knew that Steve wasn't likely to explain anything to anyone, given how polite the guy was and hopefully knowing that he would speak to Vision about what not to say to anyone about the situation. That being said Wanda was going to have to speak to the British accented robot herself just to be on the safe side not to mention apologize to him and their leader for her actions. Not that she wasn't expecting the same from them in return, if she could manage to look them both in the eye after that horrible affair. Vision already caused issue with the fact he had shown her underwear around after she purchased them and she really didnt want to explain why it was wrong to see a girl naked from her point of view if he asked her in the event Steves explanation was insufficient.

Unfortunately for her, Wanda's silence caused Natasha to quirk a brow at the girls reluctance to answer leading her to draw the one conclusion that seemed logical in a situation like this "He saw you naked didn't he." She asked with a very very heavy teasing tone in her voice.

Wanda stopped in her tracks frozen on the spot her face exploding with heat and she looked at Natasha mouth agape in shock, who had the biggest smirk on her face.

"How…." Wanda whispered unable to complete that sentence. It had only been a few minutes between her incident and now, so there was no way Steve or Vision would have told her that and Natasha wouldn't have asked them. Wait a minute…. Her eyes widened "You tricked me!" she realized too late her eyes glowing red with her power as Natasha smiled with mirth in her eyes "You make it too easy!" she responded before laughing a bit more.

Wanda raised her hand, which was enveloped in its red mist as warning. She wouldn't hesitate to make Natasha hallucinate if she kept up her teasing. That is if she was actually serious about doing so. Unfortunately Natasha called her bluff and said "Come on Wanda do you really think I'd expect you to use your powers on me like that?"

"If you keep teasing me I might" Wanda mutter darkly "I had enough of that from Clint."

Natasha coughed at that one, causing Wanda to look at her suspiciously "_he better not have told her"_ she thought, knowing that cough seemed a little out of place for just a simple explanation, but Wanda let the matter drop not wanting to be teased any further. The two just walked in silence after that before Wanda felt her stomach rumble. In all the excitement, Wanda had forgotten that it was almost dinner time and she was quite hungry after all the training she did. Looking down at herself Wanda bit her lip before turning back to Natasha. Are you hungry" she asked "I could use some company for dinner."

Natasha nodded and the two made their way to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

* * *

To Wanda's surprise when she entered the kitchen she found Steve, Sam, and Rhodey all sitting at the table in their usual spots looking like they were about to serve themselves some dinner. She didn't have to worry about Vision since the android didn't eat anything, so hopefully the embarrassment would be kept to a minimum during dinner. Now that she was in the kitchen she could smell a very pleasant scent in the kitchen, making her all the more famished. Steve was the first one to notice Wanda but thankfully he said nothing, only giving her a nod, which Wanda returned albeit hesitantly, before she made her way to the kitchen table where she found what had been made for the team that evening. "Kolhrabi Cheese soup?" she asked almost mystified by the smell. While it was a German dish, it was very common in Sokovia and was one of Wanda's favorite dishes growing up, so it was quite a treat especially when made by her team. They must have looked through different recipe books that Tony had on hand to find it. Her eyes lit up as she grabbed a bowl and she bean serving herself a helping before making her way to the kitchen table sitting down in her regular spot and without hesitation, began slurping the meal down albeit as politely as possible. The hot liquid seared her taste buds with the flavor of her favorite meal reminding her, for the first time since she was a child, warmly of home. The only thing that she was missing now was chicken paprikash but that could come again at another time and much like the pancakes she couldn't wait to try any other well known American treats.

As she ate she couldn't help but notice the looks that everyone at the table were giving her, looks of fondness and warmth, with smiles the size of Europe. Taken by surprise, Wanda gulped another mouthful of her soup, causing her to cough heavily from the soup going down the wrong pipe. She coughed into her arm for a few seconds before Natasha, who sat next to her, gently hit her on the back to help ease the girls minimal suffering. Thankfully that seemed to work and Wanda's coughing ceased after a few moments and she sat up straight taking a look around the table. "what?" she asked hoping that there wasn't anything on her face and quickly grabbed her napkin and dabbed her face with it but this only received snickers from everyone at the table, causing Wanda to look at them with faint annoyance in her eyes "What?!" she repeated and everyone burst out into laughter.

Ok that was just serving to make the young sokovian even angrier. Why wasn't anyone explaining anything to her? She had been back for all of a few hours and everyone was treating her like a big joke. Her face morphed into a glower as she looked around the table once more watching as everyone tried to recollect their composure.

Steve being the gentleman that he was, was the first to break the silence. "Its nothing Wanda," he said with a genuine smile. "Its just great to have you back after you've been gone for the past few days, it just isn't the same without you here."

Wanda's frown faded upon hearing those words the emotion in the air shifting to one of warmth and happiness everyone in the room having similar feelings to Steve, indicating the truth in his words. Wanda was quickly reminded of ow she felt at Clints; Steve was doing his best to make sure that Wanda felt at home with everyone. Her mind wandered to the conversation she had with Natasha prior to her extended vacation; she didn't want everyone to be on eggshells around her, much less fear her and realized that this was the perfect opportunity to change that. She had spent only around a month here and she avoided her teammates due to her grief at the loss of her brother as well as having a hard time adjusting to being in a new environment

A small smile touched Wanda's lips upon hearing Steve's words. She was lucky to such good people looking out for her wellbeing.

"Its good to be back." She responded kindly.

* * *

**The Next chapter will feature a timeskip, given that there is a year been AOU and CA:CW (not that we will get THAT far in the next chapter). the reason for the timeskip? well no spoilers but there is a reason for it :) as always leave your thoughts**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello. Back for chapter number 10. Sorry for the wait. Here is a surprise!**

** Enjoy the story.**

* * *

The days went by turning into weeks, which then turned into months, the time blurring together for Wanda, who continued her training as an Avenger and acclimating to her new life in America. The time had clearly been kind to her on both fronts as she had gotten much stronger both physically and mentally, her powers growing with reach passing day as well. While there hadn't been a world ending threat for the Avengers to face since Ultron (not that anyone of them really wanted to) she was nonetheless continuing her training as though there would be one at any moment and the time had clearly affected her body beyond its regular limits, as did her mental prowess. Her body had grown more muscular as a result of the rigorous training that she had gone through, mostly under the supervision of Natasha but she also took up weight training and cardio to enhance her body as well. As for her powers she was more proficient with them, both offensively as defensively but under Natasha's guidance she also began studying basic martial arts techniques in order to fight with relying on her powers should the need arise Wanda was proud of her progress and would hopefully be ready when Earth was in trouble in the future.

Time had changed her as well. Aside from the aforementioned experience she had gained with her time as an avenger, her Sokovian accent had also began to change, mixing with a slight American accent lessening her native accent considerably but Wanda didn't care about it too much; it was a side effect of mingling with Americans and improving her English, even if she never lost her native accent.. She was proud to defend her new home and with Sokovia destroyed and her brother dead there was nowhere else for her to go. Despite this however she rarely ever left the compound to explore America and what it had to offer (which her lack of a driver's license contributed too) even if it was just too the city for necessary supply runs. The farthest she had ever gone was the forests surrounding the compound and that was only for training purposes (not counting her trip to the Barton farm.) Steve wanted to keep Wanda close after her trip, acting very much like a big brother figure to her wanting to keep her safe. In some ways this reminded her of her brother, but Steve was far less annoying, having grown up in a time where respect was everything compared to the modern day she was familiar with. She supposed that made Natasha her older sister (or aunt considering that Wanda thought of Clint as her father) not that she wanted to revisit that conversation she had with Natasha on the subject. As well there was really no need for Wanda to even leave the compound in the first place; as a celebrity she was bound to be hounded by the media and quite frankly she didn't want that to happen to her since she liked her privacy; though if she had to resort to her powers to get them off her she might. Then again no one would really like that not even her.

That being said she was itching to go to the city for a while on her next day off; she could use the break and it would be nice to get away from the others for a while and pretend that she was just a regular girl. The only problem was that she still had to get her license; though she had improved her driving skills using the bike Clint had graciously given her, she didn't have the time between her training schedule to just go out into the city and actually take the driver's test granted as she wasn't a civilian it was not the biggest issue and even though she was technically illegal she could get a license in New York, but that would be a lot of red tape that she wasn't sure even Rhodes could help her though. It would be nice though but for the time being she could get away with not having a license, but she didn't want to rely on her teammates to be her chauffeurs to the city like she was some sort of teenager.

Oh wait….

In any case Wanda was happy to be where she was at with her life even if she missed her brother terribly during times of loneliness and wished she could return to the Barton farm, which she hadn't been able to do for the past three months; she missed them very much but she still called them on occasion but it wasn't the same to actually be with them; Clint hadn't visited either in the time she had been here either. She knew he was retired, and time wasn't exactly a luxury, but it didn't change how she felt about being apart from her father.

On the bright side she had been getting closer to the others particularly the Vision, who at the very least shared her isolation and curiosity about being in America, which was funny when he had the infinite wisdom but absolutely no experience to draw upon. So much for that Stone of his being one of the strongest powers in the universe. Then again just like her, the Vision needed time to learn how to harness its power and probably would be a force to be reckoned with once he mastered its power. If what Thor said was true, then she couldn't imagine what it would be like to have the other 5 stones at their disposal. Maybe they could use the stones to create a permanent peace in the entire universe

And that was how Wanda found herself in her bedroom staring outside the window towards the lake that she so graciously had a view out of. She had to admit Stark knew how to do some renovations to this old warehouse and waking up to this view every morning was definitely a plus. She could however do more to improve the homey feeling in her room, which was pretty empty. Perhaps she could convince Natasha to take her shopping. Starks money might not approve but she wanted to make the space more her own. There wasn't much in the room to begin with, just a bed and a desk with a TV on it, which was almost never used anyway; whenever Wanda did use the TV it was mainly to learn more about American culture. Thank goodness for Netflix and the available options that it had. But since she was more focused on training and reading books to pass the time, TV was not exactly her favorite thing in the world to do. But she didn't want to take Natasha or anyone with her really simply because she didn't think it was necessary to drag them along for things that she needed no help in. it was one thing needing help for buying cloths it was another to get things for her own personal tastes

A mischievous smirk reached Wanda's lips as a plan formed in her mind. Perhaps her brother was rubbing off on her for this, but what was the harm in taking her bike for a little spin to the city? She could always use more practice anyway. Leaping off of her bed and running out of her room Wanda raced down the hallway going passed everyone's room and out of the personal quarter section of the compound at speeds only Pietro could hope to match when she rounded a corner and almost ran smack dab into Steve Rogers himself who looked surprised to see the young witch emulate her deceased brother. Wanda for her part let out a small shriek and skidded to a halt before she could collide with her leader. Stopping right in front of the WW2 veteran Wanda looked at him wide eyed slightly embarrassed for almost running into him, while trying not to look like she was up to something. While Natasha might let her go just for the fun of seeing her get in trouble upon her return, Steve wasn't going to let her break the rules and actually would chaperone her and quite frankly she did not want that. She didn't think that Steve would embarrass her nor would her purchases set off any alarm bells to her teammates but she was 17, so she didn't want someone with her ALL the time.

In short she needed to come up with an excuse fast or Steve would put the brakes on her plan and accompany her.

"Wanda?" the time displaced Captain asked, looking at Wanda curiously "where is the fire?"

The young girl resisted the urge to gulp in order to avoid being suspicious. Luckily Natasha had been teaching her to keep her cool and think on her feet so she said the first thing that came to mind "I was just going to go for a walk around the compound get some fresh air." She said unfortunately a little too quickly for her liking causing Steve to raise an eyebrow at her response.

Darn it! Of all times for her lessons to fail her why now? She could only hope it fooled the Captain, otherwise she would dread him asking to join her whether it be for an actual walk or her having to tell him the truth in which case she would get a scolding from him for attempting to drive to the city without a license and would probably offer to drive her like the gentlemen he was.

Thankfully Steve seemed to accept that answer, giving Wanda a warm smile and said "Alright but don't go wandering to far." He said acting very much like the kind man he was before stepping aside. Wanda flashed him a smile before taking off once again.

* * *

Later that day Wanda arrived in New York City proper with minimal trouble and obviously not detected by her teammates, having hijacked her newly acquired motorcycle and racing out of the compound garage so fast she doubted anyone would notice that she was missing for a while; though giving that she told Steve she was going for a walk around the compound lake he was bound to get suspicious, at least out of everyone at the compound. But as much of a big brother figure as he was, he also respected privacy so hopefully she wouldn't get too much of an interrogation when she got back.

In any case, Wanda was proud of her driving skills during the trip to the City. Thankfully there hadn't been much traffic during the drive, for which she was grateful because she hadn't been out on the open road during her driving practices much. The problem was of course she hadn't expected the sheer amount of traffic in New York (though she should have) and was now somewhere in the city caught in heavy traffic far from the mall she was intending to get to. The only good thing was at the very least she was near a parking lot that she could park. That would be great so she could get out of the traffic and actually explore the city for once.

Plus the very angry atmosphere was kind of getting on her nerves. Amid the buildings and cars in the streets everyone seemed to be yelling in some shape or form whether it be actual yelling or honking their horns because of some aggressive or otherwise angry drivers. It had its own charm if you were interested or ok with that sort of thing but Wanda was not. All it managed to do was give her a headache and she wanted to be somewhere quieter.

Doing her best to block out the annoyance that was New York City roads, Wanda made her way to the parking garage and parked there. Securing her bike, Wanda made sure that she had everything she brought with her during the drive (most notably her phone and wallet) before exiting said garage and taking a look around her to mark her location.

"Maybe I should have brought a map" Wanda muttered to herself (momentarily forgetting that she had a map on her phone) before running her hand down her face in annoyance. She had been in such a rush that she hadn't really thought things through. She had no idea where she was going other than 'to the mall' but she hadn't really been sure which mall she should be going to for the things she needed and therefore where to go anyway. Her GPS had brought her directly to the city and that was it. Whenever she had gone with Natasha, she hadn't memorized the locations since she had been more concerned with getting cloths at the time not really paying attention to which stores they got it at so long as Wanda was able to purchase what she needed that was all that mattered to her. Now t seemed like that was coming back to bite her in the back side.

Taking another look around Wanda couldn't help but give an irritated groan. The only thing. The only thing she saw that was remotely a landmark was a Starbucks amid brick buildings at the edge of the city. And if she knew one thing about America it was that Starbucks were practically everywhere so memorizing a Starbucks wasn't going to be very helpful to her without any other sort of landmark. But since she had no idea where she was all that would accomplish was getting lost if she wasn't careful.

Before Wanda could continue to complain about her situation, her stomach gave a loud rumble. The Sokovian blushed slightly before looking back at the Starbucks. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing that she was near a Starbucks now wasn't it. At the very least she was going to be able to get a snack.

She walked across the street when it was safe and made her way into the café. She hadn't been inside a Starbucks before so it would be an experience for her. Everyone in the store paid no mind to the young woman as she got in line for her coffee, more preoccupied with their phones or talking to one another than a new Avenger (since she hadn't gone public yet). However, it was quite a long line, so sh would have to wait a bit until she was able to get something to satisfy her stomach. Well she wasn't going anywhere so she folded her arms and waited behind the line of people in front of her. She hadn't been waiting lone when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Wanda," Wanda jumped and whirled around when she heard the voice and her mouth immediately went dry as she drank in the appearance of Xander Dawson looking at her with surprise (which she was no doubt mirroring with her own face) in the middle of a Starbucks in New York City.

Of all the things that Wanda could have ever thought could happen in her life, seeing the boy she was crushing on (what she could admit it to herself) in her new home city was certainly not something she was expecting to happen today. She could feel her heart race and blood rush to her cheeks as she continued to look at Xander, her mouth opening and closing as her mind became blank and she became bereft of any and all words that she might have been able to come up with in that very moment.

Then, she remembered the note that he left her with and her face into a glower as she reared her hand back and punched Xander in the shoulder as hard as she could. This clearly took the boy by surprise and he let out a yelp that caught the attention of several customers but Wanda paid no mind to that giving her would be crush the most evil womanly glare that she could muster.

"Wanda!" Xander cried in indignation rubbing the sore spot that Wanda jabbed gently to ease away the pain "what was that for?" he hissed trying not to create more of a scene. Wanda just glared at him, folding her arms and responded with "That was for leaving behind that stupid note you jerk!" she seethed with anger "you couldn't just come and see me at the Barton's would that have been so hard?" the poor girl raged with annoyance trying her best not to let her emotions get the better of her in the moment. Lest she cause a red mist to appear in the room.

Still she hadn't expected to see her crush here in New York of all places though he hadn't left any indication where he was going in his note to begin with. But for him to be here of all places was nothing short of a miracle and while she was happy to see him, she wanted a better explanation for his sudden departure than that half assed note that he couldn't bother to have delivered in person. He better have a good explanation or she wouldn't hesitate to hypnotize him whatsoever.

Xander smiled sheepishly, a small blush appearing on his cheeks. "oh" he muttered seemingly at a loss of what to say before he regained his bearings "That…." He bit his lips and looked away for a moment before returning his gaze to Wanda "I wanted to give it to you in person; I thought I should, but I couldn't bear the thought of looking at your face and never seeing you again, if not knowing if I ever would." He told her in a sincere voice

Wanda's gaze softened slightly, upon feeling the sincerity behind Xander's words and realizing that in that moment he truly cared for her, in his own way. Her heart beat faster slightly at her own thoughts and a small smile graced her lips. She never met anyone who was so selfless. But as she gazed at him her powers kicked in and she heard a few of his thoughts as they stood in a comfortable silence "_god how is it possible for someone to be so kind yet fierce at the same time? _She_ sure knows how to throw a punch that's for sure."_

Wanda couldn't help but chuckle at Xander's thoughts before she looked at him with a beautiful smile. "so, you mentioned in your letter that you were going to college to pursue your dreams." Wanda stated Xander smiled a nodded "yeah I just moved here in august, care to get a cup of coffee with me and talk about it?" he asked with a dazzling grin that made Wanda's heart sped up all the more.

Wanda's eyes widened and a small pink blush stained her cheeks at the proposal, before remembering the last time the two had an outing together. How she ran off on him because of the fact she mentioned her deceased brother. He did deserve an explanation for that one, since he probably was confused about that one. Besides she did have fun with him regardless and wanted to continue pursuing him as long as both he and fate continued to give her that chance and she knew that he wanted the same so why not? trusting her instincts, Wanda smiled and grabbed Xander's hand with her own flashing him her own smile. "I'd love too Xander." She said her voice barely above a whisper. She watched as Xander looked at her his own cheeks going red. It was quite adorable, and Wanda wished that she would have been able to take a picture but she couldn't without Xander noticing her deed

Xander nodded before gripping Wanda's hand tighter and mouthed "Thank you" causing Wanda's grin to widen before to two moved to stand next to each other in line. unconsciously Wanda, moved closer to Xander, molding her body close to his. The two waited in line for a while until it was their turn to order. Xander (reluctantly) moved away from Wanda (much to her dismay) and moved closer to the barista to rder a drink but not before turning to Wanda and asking "What do you want Wanda?" he asked the angel he was enamored with.

Wanda looked at her crush, surprised by his thoughtfulness before she looked at the menu and pondered over it for a moment before deciding on one in particular, the French Vanilla latte. "I'll take the French Vanilla Latte." She said. Xander nodded before turning to the Barista, ordering the Latte for Wanda and much to the girls surprise getting a hot chocolate for himself. The boy paid for his drinks and led Wanda to a nearby table. Xander place the drinks on the table even took the time to pull out the chair for Wanda "_my, what a gentleman."_ Wanda thought as she took her seat never taking her eyes off of Xander as he sat in his own seat.

"One French Vanilla latte made especially for a beautiful woman." He said slyly pushing the drink closer to Wanda. Grinning, Wanda took the drink and gingerly took a sip from the cup reveling in the warm feeling of Vanilla going down her throat. Moaning slightly, she pulled her lips away from the cup, placing it down to see Xander taking a swig of his own sweet concoction. That's when Wanda realized that she better make some conversation since this was technically her second date with Xander and she wanted to make it a good one this time around. Since the last time she had seen him was about him following his dreams, per the note she had read at what was their usual spot at the Barton residence and that had been months ago, she had a lot to catch up on and she wanted to figure out why Xander was in New York of all places. It seemed like a dream come true for Wanda, if not a unusual set of coincidences, either way she was very happy to accept the idea of Xander in the same area as her. It would make for a better time getting to know him as opposed to seeing him only when at the Barton farm. Her heart warmed at the very idea of being able to meet Xander in the city at the very least once a week if she could find the time to squeeze him in her very heavy schedule (which she no doubt would) that is, if he could also do the same. But given she was a superhero and he was a civilian it shouldn't be that hard to do, at least for him. And it wasn't like there was a world ending threat every other day, so hopefully Wanda wasn't going to be too busy all the time.

Xander placed his cup down, only for Wanda to look at him oddly when she realized that there was a distinctive white moustache on his upper lip. She clapped her hand over her mouth trying to contain her giggles, causing Xander to tilt his head and look at her like she had grown a second head "What?" he asked, though his voice broke, her laughter infecting him slightly. Wanda just continued to giggle in her hand, doing her best to contain her laughter until….

"Is there something on my face?" Xander asked, raising a hand to his lips only to answer his own question when he felt the whipped cream on his upper lip. That did it. Wanda burst out into laughter, her beautiful voice mingling in the air like the sound of a melodic bell. Xander despite being taken by the wonderous laugh was quick to grab a napkin and wipe his face, after clearing away any creamy substance from his lip, he glanced at Wanda, who was still giggling, and a mischievous smirk came over his face as a wicked thought entered his mind.

"Oh Wanda…." He said dipping his finger into his whipped cream, but Wanda didn't notice as she began to get control of herself. She opened her eyes, the word "Yes" on the tip of her tongue but, unfortunately, she was never able to speak the word for as soon as she opened her eyes, Xander wiped his finger over Wanda's nose, smearing it with whipped cream. Wanda froze her eyes widening in shock… before she burst out laughing once again surprised by Xander's guts and enjoying the friendly if not flirty behavior. Xander also began to chuckle likely due to the success of his prank. Wanda continued to giggle even as she quickly dabbed her nose with her napkin taking a moment to then settle down. Afterwards she looked at Xander with a sly grin "You sure have guts Xander I'll give you that." She said teasingly. "But I wouldn't recommend doing that again."

Xander just returned Wanda's grin wagging his finger in a playfully threatening way "why is that my dear Wanda?"

Wanda opened her mouth to respond when she realized that out of all the things she should say 'because im an Avenger' was not one of them, at least at the moment so she clamped her mouth shut and swallowed her words trying to think of a good cover. Thankfully he training with Natasha came in handy and she was able to come up with a good cover story very quickly 'because I have my friends on speed dial." She retorted. Not exactly a lie, not the whole truth. Perfect. Xander just grinned wider at that and said "so you do live here in New York then?" he asked "well then I'm glad I'm going to school here for the next few years.

Wanda's eyes widened slightly, remembering the note. "so that's what you meant by following your dreams." She said leaning forward and placing her head on her hands. "You're going to school here?" she asked. Xander nodded "I'm getting an art degree at Columbia University starting this year."

Wanda smiled remembering the drawing that she still had tucked away in her room back at the compound. Xander would do well with an art degree if his drawings were half as good as that one was. Partly she was jealous of Xander, as he had the benefits of parents and a normal life, something that was stolen from her when she was only 10 years old, but she wasn't going to let that bother her. Instead she let one of her hands fall on the table, and much to her surprise Xander reached forward and gently grabbed Wanda's hand. Wanda looked up at her crush and the two locked eyes and for the first time Wanda felt locked in place. The next thing she knew, she was leaning forward, with Xander reciprocating the gesture and the two locked lips together in a tender kiss

* * *

**As always leave your thoughts.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello. Back for chapter number 11. Sorry for the wait. Thank you for the follows and favorites. Keep it up.**

** Enjoy the story.**

* * *

Spellbinding. That was the only word coming to Wanda's mind as she continued to kiss Xander's lips. Her own lips were practically quivering as she explored this newfound part of her and Xander's relationship. She never imagined that a kiss would feel this enchanting. her heart raced inside her chest as she moved her hand from Xander's and gently began to stroke is face as one would a lover. With all her heat Wanda realized that is what she wanted; for Xander to look at her and call her his. She didn't care that he was just a civilian and she a superhero in training. If Tony could make it work with Pepper than so could she with Xander? Speaking of which, was Xander feeling the same way as she was right now. The rate at which the kiss seemed to escalate would be a definite indication of his desire matching hers. It was a dream come true for the young woman, one she couldn't imagine giving up.

Before the kiss could escalate any further (Not that Wanda would know that kisses could escalate to tongue dancing, this being her first one), the pesky need for air got in the way and Wanda was forced to pull away from the boy she had come to develop feelings for. With a breathtaking sigh, Wanda pulled away and opened her eyes, not realizing that she had even closed them in the first place and was met with the sight of a flushed and slightly out of breath Xander his eyes wide as he stared at Wanda with a new sense of wonder. Wanda herself felt warm all over a feeling not familiar to her, but she di want to explore it. In her daydreaming haze she heard Xander's unguarded thoughts which only served to fuel the fie burning in her body _"wow…. She kisses like an angel…"_

A small smile touched Wanda's lips at the thought she unconsciously heard and she couldn't help but raise her hand to her still quivering lips, hoping to stop the trembling. It was her first kiss and she had given it to her first crush and the only thing on his mind was the fact that to him she was an angel. He French Vanilla latte lay on the table forgotten the words echoing in her mind like the words of poem etched in her heart.

Xander must have noticed her daydreaming for he called out to her, gently ripping the Sokovian from her daydreaming. "Wanda you ok?" he asked a ripple of concern in his voice. Wanda quickly looked up at him and bit her lip suddenly afraid, her reasoning returning to her with a frightful vice grip. What did this mean for them? The thought of running again occurred to her but she held steadfast this time not wanting to push Xander further away. "I'm sorry Xander I shouldn't have…" she said her words trailing off. She couldn't believe what she had done Would he still accept her as a friend after this? No there was no going back after this.

"Don't be." Xander responded softly a small but sly grin appearing on his face "You didn't do anything wrong. I wanted to kiss you." As soon as he said that Xander sucked in a breath obviously thinking he said too much. Wanda herself couldn't believe it and she remained frozen in place from his words. what was she even supposed to say to that? She had wanted to kiss him too, but… she was at a complete loss for words and could only stare at her crush with a dazed heartbroken look on her face, causing Xander to look down, crestfallen as well. Wanda sensed that he felt that it was he that had done something wrong (which he didn't) and she finally managed to find her voice amid the awkward moment. "I wanted to kiss you too." She managed to squeak, barely loud enough to be heard. It was enough though, for Xander quickly looked up his eyes filled with what Wanda could only describe as hope and want, before his face broke into a wide smile and he said the words that Wanda for a time could only dream of hearing "Does this mean we are a couple now?" he asked fear making his voice wobble, his eyes never leaving Wanda's as he did so. Wanda, only smiled and after a few moments leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Xander's lips before whispering breathlessly "Yes".

Xander responded by kiss Wanda's lips softly before pulling away and asking "In that case would you like to have dinner sometime with me this week? We can exchange numbers and plan something whenever you are free. He said with a smile that made Wanda's heart flutter all the more and she eagerly grabbed her phone and handed it to Xander who quickly programed his number into it, Wanda sending him a text so he had her number as well. The two then finished their drinks and made their way outside the Starbucks, Wanda unable to keep the silly grin off of her face because she was with the boy she had been crushing on—No he was more than that. He was her boyfriend and she his girlfriend. It might have only been their second date but Wanda was overjoyed . If Pietro were still alive she imagined that he wouldn't like that, nor would any of the other Avengers, except maybe Natasha and Steve, who would take the time to tease and be happy respectively. Speaking of which she had to tell him before they parted ways. If he was scared she would understand but he needed to know the truth about her identity. Her name and status as an Avenger in training. As Xander turned to her to ask where she would like too go next, Wanda grabbed both his hands and gripped them tightly, looking directly into his eyes with a worried expression, causing her newfound boyfriend to look at her with worry in his eyes. "Wanda is everything ok?" He asked suddenly concerned by his new girlfriends behavior. Wanda herself realized she was being rather bipolar as she was ecstatic one moment then suddenly worried the next. She really needed to get a better hold of her emotions, but how was he going to react at the idea of dating an avenger? Either way he had a right to know. However before she could utter a single word her pocket vibrated with a ringtone that only Clint could have come up with **' I'm a Hex girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you! Gonna put a spell on you.'** Sadly she never was able to change it. She had a nagging feeling Clint secretly told Friday to keep switching it back should she ever try to. Her dad had a wicked sense of humor. She blushed lightly and even Xander couldn't help but chuckle a little "You got to take that?" he asked Wanda mouthed a quick "excuse me" and turned around taking her phone and answering it. "Wanda Maximoff." She said curtly unable to keep the irritation out of her voice.

To her surprise she heard Natasha's voice coming out of the phone "Wanda? Where are you? Steve wants you back here pronto we have a lead on Rumlow and Steve wants the whole team ready to track in down in Prague, so whatever you are doing get here because we leave 3 hours ago." She said with an intense urgency in her voice. One the Sokovian was unable to ignore

Wanda hissed a curse and glanced back at Xander with sad eyes before turning around again and told Natasha "I'll be there within the hour." And hung up turning to Xander with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, but work called; they want me back and I'm afraid its going to be an extended business trip so I might not be available for a while" she said the lie slipping easily off of her tongue like water.

Xander smiled sadly and nodded, but thankfully didn't question why she had to leave or what she even did that required an 'extended business trip' instead saying "'You have my number, so give me a call when you are back in town." He said.

Wanda nodded and threw her arms around Xander giving him another kiss before saying "I will." She didn't want to let go of him, but unfortunately duty called so she let go of him and forced herself to turn around and run back to her motorcycle so that she could make her way back to the New Avengers Facility.

Meanwhile Xander stood watching Wanda's retreating back with a rather goofy grin on his face happy to finally see Wanda again. The only thing that worried him was how secretive she was being but he wasn't going to invade her privacy. If she had anything she wanted to tell him, then she would when she was ready. Taking one last look at Wanda. Xander turned and walked away.

* * *

By the time Wanda returned to the compound, the morning had given way to the early afternoon, meaning that she was extremely late for whatever preparation that Steve had tried to mobilize on such short notice, which meant that Wanda would probably have to listen to a lecture from the old time super soldier, even though he was the one that technically let her go in the first place. Granted Wanda had snuck out like a rebellious teen instead of actually telling anyone where she was going so it wasn't completely his fault, nor anyones fault really since no one was expecting Rumlow to suddenly pop up on their radar. It did add to Wanda's chagrin however, solely because her day with Xander was ruined mere minutes into their second date.

It was just like the universe had it out for Wanda ever since she joined the avengers. She lost her hometown, her brother and now she couldn't even spend more than an hour with her new boyfriend before her job had to rear its ugly head. She needed to talk to Steve about taking a leave of absence after this considering she really hadn't had a break from training in the past six months aside from the days off Steve gave them so that they wouldn't hurt themselves. but despite Steve's sympathy, no amount of begging or sweet talking was going to get her out of this situation with Rumlow. All hands were needed on deck and it was time for Wanda to put her training to the test.

Didn't mean that she was going to like being pulled away from her date though. Steve was going to hear it from her for sure after this mission. That is if Wanda wanted to reveal to anyone that she had a boyfriend. But now was definitely not the time to be considering revealing that to anyone.

Wanda begrudgingly parked her bike in its usual spot, grumbling about her situation, before she hopped off the vehicle and made her way out of the hanger and into the main compound, going to the meeting room, where she found Steve Natasha Rhodes Sam and Vision waiting for her. All of their eyes were on her and Wanda couldn't help but feel small and quite a bit irritated under their collective gaze and unable to take it after a few seconds blurted out an angry "What?!" inadvertently activating her powers, her hands blazing with scarlet energy and her eyes glowing a crimson red. Sadly no one appeared shocked by her actions, with their reactions as small as flinching, at best. Steve just shot her a warning look and said with a slightly angry authoritive edge in his voice "Nice of you to join us Wanda." He said leaving no room for arguments. Realizing that her display was getting her no where, Wanda willed herself to calm down her powers dissipating, and she quickly made her way to her seat, looking her best to seem as if nothing happened.

Unfortunately for Wanda she could barely concentrate on the meeting due to the fact her mind continually return to Xander and the kiss that they had shared. Her head was still spinning from that kiss. Was this how everyone was after they had their first kiss? It was a feeling that she wished would never end or at the very least revisit from time to time Well she had no time to think about it because if she continued to be distracted everyone would be bound to notice. Sadly it was harder than it seemed; for every word Steve said, the more Wanda thought of Xander and the very idea that they would be able to go out on another date this time for dinner instead of coffee. The very idea of a candlelight dinner was so romantic. It was making her sigh and her heart race just thinking about it.

Damn did she have it bad. She needed to talk to Clint about this, since he was the only one who knew Xander and wouldn't ask millions of questions about her crush (though he would definitely tease her about it.) since he was the only Avenger she trusted to talk to about a relationship as he was the only one whom she knew to be married that wasn't a narcissist.

Can you tell she hated Tony Stark despite getting over the fact his weapons killed her parents?

Nevertheless after roughly an hour of briefing from Captain America, where it was decided that Rhodey and Falcon would go to prague to check out the leads on Rumlow Wanda excused herself from the room and made her way back to her quarters but before she could even leave the conference room, Natasha's voice rang in her ears. "Wanda wait." Cursing in Sokovian under her breath, Wanda turned to see Steve and Natasha looking at her with somber almost disappointed looks. Annoyed by the interruption, Wanda folded her arms and spat an angry "What!" at everyone that was just staring at her.

Steve and Natasha didn't even blink and that was when Wanda realized her mistake. Being in love was causing her very erratic mood swings. Either that or she was on her period, but Wanda hadn't really been paying attention to that. Either way she was in a bit of trouble and would have to explain herself.

Natasha shook her head and gave Wanda a scathing look. "Wanda normally we wouldn't be talking about this but don't think we didn't notice during the briefing that you seemed distracted. Did it have something to do with the fact you were missing all morning?" she asked.

Wanda's angry face crumbled and her eyes widened in shock and embarrassment at the fact she had been caught. She thought she had been careful and no one would notice but that's when she realized that the two, being the leaders of the Avengers probably just looked at any security footage to see Wanda sneak off into the city on her own when she really wasn't supposed to without supervision since the team was worried about her being on her own and she needed to be available should a mission come up .

She even had the grace to blush a slight pink, since she knew exactly where this was going to end up but she had no choice. It wasn't like she was going to be able to lie to them; Natasha was the one to teach her how to lie and she was a damn good one, shed be able to detect a lie from Wanda before Wanda could read Natasha's mind. She just didn't want to deal with the prodding of her personal life as a result of revealing that she went on a date. Unfortunately, before Wanda could shake her blush, Natasha went on the offensive raising her eyebrow "You met someone didn't you?" she asked causing the pink tones on Wanda's cheeks to darken to a rich plum. Steve followed this up with a rather genuine smile "Seems our little girl is growing up." He said sharing an amused glance with Natasha before they looked back at Wanda who just wanted the ground to swallow her up right now. "so what if I did?" she asked though her voice warbled considerably from embarrassment.

Steve, god bless that man, made his way up to Wanda and bent down on one knee so he could be more on her eye level and placed a hand on her shoulder. Wanda shook off her blush and looked Steve in the eye waiting for him to speak. "Its ok Wanda it is perfectly natural for a girl your age to explore romance. I did when I was your age…."

"Which was 100 years ago" Natasha cut in smirking causing Wanda to giggle as Steve looked back at Natasha with a small glare. He turned back to Wanda and continued. "Its none f our business what you do with your personal life, we were just worried after we realized that you were gone. Next time let me or Natasha know ok?" he said with a rather warm smile

Wanda couldn't help but roll her eyes at Steve's words (much to the old man's annoyance). He meant well, but he was far too old fashioned for Wanda's tastes, which was a bit unsettling at times. but she didn't need him to lecture her about having friends let only a relationship. She was an Avenger; she could handle anything.

"Just bring protection if you plan to go out with your boyfriend" Natasha teased. Wanda's face exploded with heat, as did Steve's who stood up and whirled around to look at the former SHIELD agent "Natasha!" the yelled in unison at the red head who continued to cackle at their expense. Steve just stood there dumbfounded by Natasha's nerve but Wanda was taking in much harder since she realized what Natasha was insinuating and what that would mean for her relationship.

In that moment, Wanda did the one think anyone in her position would do. Unable to take the teasing, with her cheeks blazing scarlet, she turned and all but ran from the room at speeds her brother would have been jealous of leaving the two older Avengers behind. She didn't stop running until she reached her room and slammed the door shut behind her. Never before in her life did she ever think about the subject and because of Natasha, she certainly was now! Slumping to the floor Wanda tried to calm her racing heart, placing her hand over her chest, steadily feeling her heartrate go down but her cheeks remained the same red color they were and it was definitely not because she was out of breath thanks to her run. Going out with Xander again certainly wasn't in the cards right now and she didn't want to talk to her teammates since the last thing she wanted was to deal with Natasha again or anyone else for that matter in case they heard what had happened and she was to embarrassed to face anyone anyway. this was more humiliating then the time Vision accidently saw her underwear and her almost naked. God why was being in love making her life so crazy? She seriously needed to have a talk with them about their teasing, lest she force them under her spell. Sure she might get in trouble for it, but it would be so worth it

Wanda sighed before standing from her position. Maybe a work out would help clear her mind of all the annoyances that was her teammates words. The day was still young and she could use some exercise. Going to her closet she changed into a more appropriate outfit for a workout; nothing fancy just a t shirt and some gym shorts, before she made her way outside of her room. luckily there didn't seem to be anyone outside the door waiting to ambush her for more questions. Smiling she closed her bed room door behind her and made her way to the gym in the facility, which thankfully seemed to be empty and went to the nearby weight rack where she put on an appropriate amount of weight and took it to the bench press. As she did her sets, her mind wandered to Clint and what he would think of Xander now that she was officially dating him. She didn't know much about what Clint knew of Xander; all she knew was that they were neighbors, and Clint's farm was in a very rural area with very few people so Clint must have known Xander or the vey least his parents for some time given his familiarity with Xander's last name during Wanda's stay there. Perhaps it was best to learn more about Xander from Clint, since while she had Xander's number and could learn more about him directly, Clint probably knew more than Xander was willing to admit, despite already bring in a relationship.

But she would worry about that after she finished her workout. Time went by without much thought as Wanda continued her exercise routine for the next hour or so doing every workout she could think of for the day. As she finished her sets on the last machine she was working out with, she heard the door to the Gym open and in walked Vision. After that fiasco involving her near nakedness Vision had properly learned when to use the doors even if privacy wasn't an issue since it wasn't exactly commonplace to phase between walls everywhere one went. Dear god sometimes Wanda hated when she was alone with the Vision due to the fact he was like a child that needed to be tutored and nurtured, despite the Infinity Stone in his forehead granting him "Knowledge". Then again it wasn't like she knew any more about the darn think then he did, as no one really talked about it. Yet the two strangely had a bond, that was one thing she couldn't deny after he had saved her life in the battle of Sokovia, so they were friends but still.

Though that didn't answer the question of why he was in the workout room. Unlike normal flesh and blood humans like herself Vision had no need for exercising his body since he was an artificial being. So why wa he in here in the first place. Wanda sat up from the machine and watched as the Vision came towards her. Ever step he took was deliberate his stance emanating pride and confidence. It almost reminded her of Pietro as he walked with a similar cocky stance.

But at least her brother didn't share Visions naivety at the world. Getting up from the bench machine Wanda shakily walked towards the Vision trying not to look foolish after a very heavy workout routine. Hard to do hen your body is sore and you are sweating very hard. Gulping and feeling a little self conscious Wanda tried to hide her unease and quickly asked "Vision? What are you doing here?" she bit her tongue to prevent herself from asking any more obvious questions. The android was abound to let her know why he was here anyway.

The Vision smiled and said "Good Afternoon Wanda," very cheerfully "I just spoke with Captain Rogers," Oh dear god please let this not be about Wanda's love life. She knew Steve would never tell a soul and unless Vision was merely curious wouldn't bring it up, but if that was indeed the case here, Wanda really hoped that he would be tactful enough to realize that she didn't want to talk about it. " and I was wondering if you wanted to join us in seeing a movie in the common room?" he said

Wanda let out a sigh of relief at that, thankful that the earlier conversation didn't seem to reach the ears of the other Avengers and she smiled brightly. "I'd love too." She said before looking down at herself "Let me get ready though first" she said before quickly leaving the room to go take a shower. At the very least going to this movie would keep her mind off of the troubles that she was currently facing and she could enjoy some down time with her friends.

* * *

Boy, Wanda wished she could never be any more wrong. An hour after showering and getting comfortable to watch the movie in the common room with her two compatriots, Wanda was ready to fall asleep. The movie she was watching with Steve and the Vision was something that wasn't really holding her interest though the other two were loving it. Steve because it was something new and exciting and Vision because it was something new and exciting. Basically it was like she was living with two children that saw the greatest in everything. Either way she wasn't really having the best of times. In short she was the only on not really enjoying the movie as much as the other two and really wanted to do something else. Maybe it just wasn't her type of movie. She had seen a few during her time and this was just one that wasn't holding her interest as much. Then again it was an older movie that Steve hadn't managed to watch yet according to him and Wanda was just a teenager who spent her recent vacation watching Disney movies with two little kids. Maybe her brain needed a bit of rewiring considering that vacation was meant for her to just act like a kid again.

No the movie was just terribly boring to her. She almost wished that she was on the mission to Prague with the others right now, but unfortunately Rhodey and Sam had already left to scout out the area. Which left her in the most boring scenario tat she could think of right now

She needed an excuse to get out of there fast. Thankfully it seemed that luck was on her side for as she sat there, her new phone vibrated in her pocket. Taking a quick look at her pocket, Wanda eyes widened. wondering who would be contacting her now, she slipped her hand in her pants pocket and pulled it out slightly, her eyes widening when she saw the name on the phone. It was Xander contacting her. A wide smile appeared on her face as she realized that she could use Xander as a way to get out of watching this movie and have fun talking to her new boyfriend. She quickly but stealthily got up from the couch, and muttered a quick excuse me to Steve and Vision, who turned and looked at Wanda when she got their attention, pausing the movie as they did so.

"I have to take a quick phone call, don't mind me" she said before walking out of the room to talk with Xander in private.

* * *

**As always leave your thoughts.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello. Back for chapter number 12. Sorry for the wait. Thank you for the follows and favorites. Keep it up.**

** Enjoy the story.**

* * *

Wanda retreated from the living room thanking her lucky stars that Xander chose at that moment to save her from the torment that she was suffering with. It was practically exhausting just watching the movie and seeing her companions look like children (even though she was clearly the youngest of the group) when she was not having the same amount of fun or any at all as they were. She almost wished that she was on the mission at least. She would be away from Xander which would definitely be depressing since she wanted to be close to him right now but at the very least she would be having the slighting amount of entertainment even if it was just the result of having an adrenaline rush in combat.

Hell she would have more fun hexing people and making them act like idiots all day (or rather her brother if he was still around, Vision was too powerful and Steve too kindhearted for her to bother doing so) even though she would get a stern talking to about doing so once she had her fun and boy she could do without that because she didn't need everyone around her acting like a parent. Clint was the only parent she wanted and yet much like how she told Natasha she didn't want to be treated like glass EVERYONE seemed keen on doing so. Even though everyone had gotten closer over the past few months that was the one thing that hadnt change during the past few months. God she missed Clint and his family since they were actually refreshing to be around. That wasn't to say that she didn't enjoy her downtime with her teammates, it was just that it was almost hard to be herself around them the same way she was Clint and Xander, save Natasha since she was the only girl of the group aside from herself and therefore was able to understand Wanda at times where she needed to be understood. Save for the awkward moment that she created earlier about getting busy with Xander

Speaking of which she still hadn't answered her ringing phone (which was still set to that blasted Hex Girl song). She was honestly surprised that Xander was calling even though it had only been a few hours but she missed him and clearly he missed her. Perhaps he was eager to get started making plans to meet for dinner? Not that she could complain it would be nice to go out with her boyfriend particularly at one of those fancy restaurants that Tony was going on about particularly since he was the one that was paying for everything and perhaps it would be a nice change of pace from what both parties involved were used too, not that Wanda wanted to make it a habit to do so since it was likely that Xander never tried anything like that in his life, but Wanda hadn't either so they could both go through a new experience together as couples should. But maybe she was getting ahead of herself, since even though Tony could pay the bill, Wanda didn't want to exploit the man for his money, despite not liking him Not to mention that it would set a standard that Xander couldn't possibly live up too since he was but an art student that couldn't afford to be at such fancy restaurants. Setting that kind of precedence was definitely not going to do good for their relationship and Wanda didn't want to be one to act so vainly. She wasn't a materialistic girl and going to an expensive dining experience was definitely not going to do well to get that across. Then again she didn't know that many good eating places in New York since she had most of her meals at the compound. Being from the same area as the Barton's Xander might not either but he did have the benefit of being a student that had to go out to eat, or so Wanda thought from her time trying to understand American culture. She had gone out a few times with the team but they were so few and far between that she hadn't exactly memorized everything, not seeing it as very important to begin with, though she did have to admit she enjoyed some of the food. Perhaps Xander could open her eyes to some new food experiences as well. Among other activities that Wanda would like to do with Xander

Grabbing her vibrating cell phone Wanda stared at Xander's name across the screen and her heart swelled with absolute adoration at the fact he was calling her. Her hand held the phone rather tightly her thumb hovering over the answer call button. She was about to press it when she suddenly faltered at the thoughts that began running through her mind. She still hadn't told him of her identity as an Avenger. Maybe it leaked while she was out with him somehow What if he was calling to confront her about that? Or worse reject for not telling her that in the first place. Wanda didn't think that she could handle that rejection, let alone from someone that she truly cared about. It was her first relationship after all and while she wasn't a fool; she knew that some relationships didn't last because of disparate differences, she just didn't want to lose this once because she hadn't told him the whole truth yet, even before their relationship got off of the ground.

Wanda shook her head, trying to clear those thoughts from her mind. Why was it that she was thinking the worst of Xander. Sure she knew that she WAS going to have to tell him the truth eventually but the fact of the matter was that she had to trust in him to take it as best as possible as well as trust herself to tell the truth when she was ready. For now she was going to take things one at a time. Starting with answering his call and planning their future date that she was looking forward to in the present. If he was calling her than he must have had an idea or at the very least was eager to brainstorm ideas with her, since it wasn't like she had the time to do so. She hadn't thought that Xander would call her so soon after their coffee date but it made her heart swell with love at the idea of someone who cared for her so much.

Pressing the call answer button, the young Sokovian eagerly brought the phone to her ear "Hello, she said, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice a small smile making its way onto her lips. She couldn't help it, but she felt like a lovestruck schoolgirl going on her first date (even though it was her second) but that's what happens when your boyfriend called you, she supposed. She held her breath waiting for Xanders voice to grace her ears through her phone. It was no substitute for being in his presence but it was the best she could do for the time being. Her heart raced with anticipation and she felt unable to move or even breath as she waited. When she finally heard Xanders voice, she felt like her heart stopped dead in her chest. "Wanda" Xander asked on the other end of the call. Even without her powers she could feel the emotional shift in the air from Xander who was just as excited as she was.

God she really was a love struck school girl. Maybe she really needed to bother Stark about hiring a psychiatrist just so she had someone to talk to about her recent tendencies. In any case she drew in a breath to steady her racing heart and subconsciously put a lock of hair behind her ear and bit her lip swallowing slightly she responded "Hi Xander!" she squeaked, mortified. It really was a squeak. Her excitement really was getting her. Get it together girl you already got him as your boyfriend, don't blow it now because of your sheer happiness. Not that Xander should mind to be honmest since she sensed that his feelings were genuine but even so, Wanda didn't want to nmake a complete fool of herself just because of her inexperience with dating people.

Ok forget a psychiatrist she needed to speak to a dating consular if she wanted any hope of making it through this without causing an explosion of some sort. Maybe Starks girlfriend Pepper knew one. The two hadn't spoken at all but she knew more about normalcy then anyone Wanda was familiar with so…

Taking another breath to steady herself Wanda shook her head to clear her mind, before answering Xander "how are you doing?" she asked managing to keep her voice normal for the first time in the conversation. Now she just had to keep it going that way. Knowing her experience with Xander that was going to be easier said than done but hopefully Xander wouldn't mind at all, all he seemed to think about when he was with her was just how wonderful she was flaws and all. She felt the same way about him after all, despite the short time that they knew each other but this was no time for day dreaming, as much as she wanted to dream about her boyfriend. She eagerly awaited his response holding her breath in anticipation.

She could practically hear the smile in his voice as he responded "Well, I just realized that I missed you" he said warmly, and I have nothing to do next week after class, and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to catch a movie with me or have some dinner if you weren't busy, but I didn't want to call you on such short notice and quite frankly I couldn't wait to hear your voice." He said causing Wanda's cheeks to pinken slightly. Thankfully for her, Steve still had no need for Wanda to go out on field missions since Rumlow was the only priority for the Avengers and her teammates were the ones handling that lead. Maybe Steve wouldn't be so strict about her going out on a date and enjoying herself for an evening. If Tony could do it than so could she. Not to mention, Steve could do with a date himself but Wanda was not going to be the one to help him with that one anytime soon. Natasha had that covered every day of the week, going on about some nurse that Steve apparently knew, but Wanda hardly paid any attention to that as much fun as it was to see Steve squirm in embarrassment every time the topic came up. It was nice to learn that from Natasha since disorienting o distracting an opponent would fit nicely with her powers as she had perfectly done when first meeting the team, as terrible as it was to have done it to them when looking back at it all now. She might not be a spy like the fierce red head but it would be nice to emulate a fairly strong woman (and Natasha was the only other woman in the team so who else was she going to emulate) as she grew physically and emotionally.

That being said, she wondered what her answer should be to her boyfriend. She was obviously going to say yes to going out with him, no doubt about that the problem was which one would be the better choice? She hadn't really experienced either in the dating sense though she had dinner with others and watched movies as a means of entertainment before and while she enjoyed both of them as it was she didn't want to disappoint her lover by being terrible when it was just the two of them. But maybe she was thinking to hard about it considering that she did have coffee with him and the world didn't implode as a result and since she wouldn't have to deal with Steve's or Vision antics during either of them and would definitely enjoy the activity a lot more when with Xander, not that she didn't enjoy their company but it was tiresome dealing with people who were naïve about the modern world. She might not be very familiar with some of the movies they watched but she didn't act like it was the first time she saw them either and besides she could never get tired of spending time with Xander. Not that she couldn't get tired of her friends here at the compound but it was different when your with someone special. "I'd love too! Maybe we could do both!" she blurted feeling her excitement getting the better of her. But what else could she do this was what she wanted since she parted with Xander at the coffee shop. He had mentioned going to dinner or a movie ten but he hadn't known when he was going to be available so clearly something had changed in the few hours they had been apart. Guess he missed her as much as she missed him.

The charming laugh from the other end of the phone made her heart race all the more and the young woman was unable to suppress the grin that reached her lips as Xander began s[peaking to her again. Oh god she could listen to his voice forever and never get tired of it. It was like the sweetest drink that she could ever taste and was so very alluring. "Im glad to hear that Wanda" the love of her life replied, his voice sending shivers down Wand's spine as her excitement grew. 'I'll text you some movies we can watch. Once we agree, we will decide on a time."

Wanda hummed in agreement "see you then." She told him before hanging up the phone. She starred at the cell phone momentarily before cursing herself mentally wishing that she said more to him before hanging up. Was it too early to express affection or to say the words that had only been said to er family as a child or in most recent years her brother. Maybe, but she still felt that something was missing from that phone call. After all she didn't really know what romantic love felt like. Pietro was the one more interested in romantics being a self proclaimed ladies man after he hit puberty and there were times that he tried to show off to many of the young woman in town with varying degrees of success. Wanda honestly hadn't really thought about it much. She ha crushes before but they never went anywhere, she wasn't ashamed to say that she thought the Vision was cute in a strangely non organic way but she didn't think a relationship would work out between them, or at least she never thought about it before.

As she put her phone in her pocket. Wanda suddenly gasped as she realized one crucial thing about he upcoming date with Xander. Something so crucial that she ws surprised that she didn't think about this sooner She needed to dress in some nice clothing for him this time around. It was lucky that she went out to shop for cloths with Natasha when she first arrived in New York, not to mention the shopping she did with Mrs Barton as to have more items to wear, the problem was that unlike any other time where she was going out she wanted to dress in a more enticing fashion. Ergo she wanted to look appealing to the eye and be a bit shameless in her fashion choice for a date. The problem? She had no idea what to wear in order to achieve her goal in this scenario. She didn't want to over do it or under do it or worse give out the wrong impression (that last one almost made her feel sick). That would pretty much ruin any and all chances of a long lasting relationship. She might not know as much as the next person about being in a relationship but if there was one thing that she knew it was that first impressions go a long way and that was definitely something she did NOT want to mess up. Where was that consular when you needed them?

Sadly, the only people that she could talk to about this were also the only ones that could possibly help her with this matter in the first place. If there was a deity that controlled fate then they sure had a sick twisted sense of humor. She would have to sit through what remained of that god awful movie before she could talk to Steve about anything. She already kept him and vision waiting long enough a it was (though they were probably still watching the movie, being the children that they were) but she didn't want to do wait through the film to talk to someone about this and definitely didn't want to deal wit Visions questions about this subject. Then again, Steve had a more conservative view on how women should dress and definitely wouldn't be familiar with how woman and in modern world should look for their lovers, or if he did probably wouldn't agree with the idea Natasha on the other hand was free and a little more knowledgeable on how teenage girls worked. The only problem was Natasha could be very mischievous when she wanted to be and go a little bit overboard with somethings if she wanted to be (she made the joke about protection for crying out loud) even if she meant well. But if her choice was between a conservative old man of a woman who had no limits well then she would have to pick the lesser of two evils and by the grace of the world that was going to be a very tough decision.

Sighing, Wanda steeled her nerves and made her way to Natasha's room in the compound.

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Wanda stood outside of Natasha's door way for what seemed like ages to her, hand up in the air ready to knock for several long breaths (Wanda had breathed heavily ever since she arrived) why was it whenever she wanted to do something, she for some reason felt overwhelmed by her nerves? The answer was simple; the sheer embarrassment of even having to ask anyone this, partially because she knew Natasha could make a cruel joke out of this and partially because she just couldn't believe that she was even going to ask this in the first place. Even if Natasha didn't make Wanda's life a living hell through this ordeal it would do little to erase the embarrassment Wanda would feel in having to go through it in the first place. Unfortunately since Steve was her only other choice there was nothing that the young Sokovian could do. She could only hold on to her hopes. Shaking her head she rapidly knocked on the door to et the red heads attention. There was a small shuffle from the other side of the door and after a few moments (including a muffled "hold on" from the red head) and the door opened revealing the red headed assassin in the most casual cloths that Wanda had ever seen her in that being a tea shirt and yoga pants the only thing missing was a jacket (much like the one that Wanda had stolen from her before the battle of Sokovia).

Wanda was slightly distracted by how Natasha looked so casual for a brief moment before remembered why she came here in the first place. Giving her mentor and maternal/aunt figure a warm smile, Wanda asked "Hey Natasha, I was wondering, could I come in?" she asked" I want you to help me out with something." She said. Natasha looked down at the younger girl with a piercing gaze for a brief moment, before returning the smile and stepping aside "of course; come in" she said.

Wanda walked in the room marveling at how pristine and empty the room was with only a bed and a desk in the room. There were absolutely no mementos or personal items in here at all, save for the bathroom connected to the room, which obviously held essential items as did the closet that held her cloths, which is exactly what Wanda needed to talk to her about. Here goes nothing.

Natasha closed the door behind them then turned to Wanda, folding her arms and before Wanda could even open her mouth Natasha already seemed to know what was on her mind "so pray tell what kind of help do you need with your boyfriend this time. I already told you about protection, don't expect me to give you any tips on how to get him in bed."

Wanda's face exploded with heat and her mouth dropped open at how blunt Natasha was being even though she really should have seen that coming anyway. Shaking her head, Wanda quickly blurted out a loud "NO!" before continuing, wanting to save herself from any further embarrassment.

" !"she said in one breath. Well that was going to get her point across really quickly. If only she hadn't sounded like a complete fool maybe Natasha wouldn't have that wicked smirk and Wanda wouldn't have a sinking feeling in her stomach that suggested that the red head was going to use this chance to stir up some trouble. It made the young sokovian wanted to mess with Natasha's mind and make her forget what happened. either that or make her shut herself up for the rest of her life.

Natasha's smirk grew, in a way that made Wanda wish said look was illegal before folding her arms and resting her head on her palm humming at Wanda's words. "This wouldn't happen to be the same boyfriend that you met earlier would it?" she asked in a tone that suggested that she already knew the answer. Wanda sighed and rubbed her temple in response. There was no way Natasha was going to make this easy on her, so she wasn't going to bother hiding any necessities from her "Yes Xander I met him at Clint's farm and he moved here to New York and…." Suddenly a light bulb went off in Wanda's head "wait a second." Natasha was Clint's friend. And during Wanda's time here she learned that Natasha was close to Clint and his family and had visited them on more than one occasion, at least in the past. And Clint wasn't one to keep secrets from Natasha. Not only that, Clint must have told someone about Wanda's condition during Wanda's time there. That meant…. Wanda's face morphed into a glare "Clint told you about him while I was on my little therapeutic trip didn't he?" she growled.

To her credit Natasha didn't so much as flinch or blink at Wanda's realization. She had the best poker face Wanda had ever seen. Shaking her head Wanda continued "Never mind can you help me with this or not." She said crossing her arms, not wanting the older woman to drag out the conversation. In this case actions speak louder than words.

Natasha's smirk turned into a tender smile, one reminiscent of Wanda's mother. It made her feel right at home. "alright then," the red head said "follow me; I'm sure that I have something that would fit what you are looking for." She told her kindly." Natasha then walked over to her walk in closet, quite the extensive on considering her job and Tony's resources. Natasha then opened the closet and walked in. hoping that Natasha knew what she was doing, Wanda followed Natasha into the closet.

* * *

To say that Wanda was surprised was an understatement; from the outside Natasha's closet was huge. From inside, the closet was practically the size of Natasha's room. If there was any doubt that Wanda wasn't going to be able to dress well for her upcoming date before, they were gone now. Natasha was already hard at work in a section of the closet pulling out outfit after outfit whether it was a shirt pants shoes or jewelry; damn this woman knew what she was doing. Wanda sure wasn't sure what she would do in her place that was why she was here after all.

Wanda walked up to Natasha and looked at what Natasha had picked just for her. Given Natasha's knowledge of her personal tastes, most of it was red and black, but in many different styles. What did concern Wanda however was that some of the choices were a little shameless. Not that Wanda didn't want to be an eyecatcher but she didn't want to attract the wrong crowd in the process for trying to impress Xander. She had enough of that when she was going through puberty and falling in with Hydra for Christ sakes. Natasha really should not be trying the seduction card today. Wanda didnt want to do that to Xander on only their second date. It wouldn't be proper etiquette and there was no way Wanda was ready for such intimacy and she doubted that Xander was, given her time with him already. Wanda picked up the first article of clothing that she found in the pile , which was a rather interesting looking shirt. She looked at Natasha who was still busy ripping clothes out from the racks. "uhhhh Natasha?" Wanda asked. Natasha stopped what she was doing to look at Wanda who had gone slightly pink in the face as she held up the shirt that should she decide to wear it would have left quite a bit of her cleavage hanging out.

It mortified Wanda just thinking about wearing this in public "I don't think that this is exactly what most people think of when they want to go on a date; me and Xander are just going out to dinner, not clubbing or anything." Did woman in America like having their breasts mostly exposed when trying to impress a lover? Wanda sincerely hoped not.

Natasha eyes danced with mirth as she glanced at the shirt in Wanda's hands. "Oh I know girl THAT is for your third date when you want to get him in the sack." She replied a widening smirk on her face.

Natasha!" Wanda screeched in mortification using the shirt to cover her reddening face. Damn it this woman was worse than Clint when it came to her relationship; at least Clint despite being a father figure hadn't even brought up anything embarrassing for Wanda.

Natasha just laughed for a few more seconds before picking up the pile of cloths that she had selected for Wanda before walking towards the exit "come along girl; your knight in shining armor awaits!"" she cried with glee.

Underneath the confines of her shirt, Wanda just let out a groan, before flinging the shirt off and begrudgingly followed Natasha back to her room.

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**As always leave your thoughts.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello. Back for chapter number 13. This chapter was fun to write! I also want to let everyone know i now have a youtube channel, so PM me for detail;s if you want to subscribe to my channel!**

** Enjoy the story.**

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The week flew by for Wanda, to such an insane degree that it almost felt like time had sped up considerably. Not much had happened over the course of the week, aside from training if she was being quite honest. That really had to be a good thing though when superheroes weren't being called to save the day on a regular basis. She did try to learn more about American culture as per Steve's insistence so that she could acclimate better to society. It certainly didn't hurt, since Wanda was a foreigner after all, but after six month she was starting to grow tired of "studying" American culture. Of course it wasn't the worst thing in the world she had been doing. That was dealing with Natasha and her insistence on making Wanda wear as many outfits as possible even after she found one that worked for her

_The young girl just stood in Natasha's insane closet and was practically in a daze after Natasha proceeded to use her for a mannequin for the number of outfits that she made Wanda wear, which ranged from outfits that Wanda just didn't like to completely outrageous outfits that Wanda wouldn't be caught dead wearing. It was like Natasha was purposely trying to irritate Wanda with this process even though she should have had a good idea of what Wanda liked to wear already, or what would be appropriate for the occasion based on how many infiltration missions that she went on during her time as a KGB and SHIELD agent. But no here Wanda was, in front of an absurdly large mirror looking at what must have been the 100th outfit that Natasha had picked out for her. The problem was, Wanda was getting tired of looking at herself in the mirror even though she had to admit she looked great, but how much longer was this going to go on for. The young girl was perfectly happy with several of the choices Natasha had provided for her. Right now she was wearing a dark teal blouse a brown leather jacket and dark blue jeans as well as a pair of black pumps, once again from Natasha's own selection. All in all, Wanda had to admit that she looked rather nice and this would definitely catch anyone's eyes, especially those that she wanted to catch. She might not know exactly what Xander liked as far from what she knew about him thus far, but she had to assume that he would like this outfit on her. It was after this outfit that Wanda had decided that she had enough clothing and glanced at Natasha , who was looking at Wanda with an amused smirk. Wanda didn't need to have her powers to tell what Natasha was thinking, and Natasha was good at blocking her mind anyway. "is there something you want to say about this Natasha, or are you going to keep staring at me like that?" she asked, Natasha smiled coyly and stood up from the seat she was on and walked over to Wanda. "I think that what you have on is a pretty good outfit, but are you sure you don't want to try anything else on?" she asked gesturing to the folded laundry that was awaiting Wanda_

_ Wanda took a quick glance at the pile Natasha was referring to then turned to her attention to the pile of discarded cloths made up of everything that Wanda had dismissed (which was made up of far less cloths than what she still had to try on), gave Natasha a pointed glare and all but stomped out of the room despite Natasha's protesting. There was just no need to continue. She had her cloths for the date she didn't need to waste any more time going through the mountains of cloths that Natasha still had in the changing room. She could hear the red head shout behind her but Wanda just stopped and turned around to look at her senior wit an annoyed look on her face. In all reality, Wanda wasn't that intimidating for an 18 year old female, at least until she cut loose, but she did manage to get the assassin to stop in her tracks with a magic infused glare. Clearly remembering the last time Wanda did that to her, Natasha simply stood her ground. Wanda gave her a sly smirk before exiting the room completely . Natasha just stood there bemused until she heard the door to her room open and close with a small bang. Natasha just shook her head "crazy kid, she has no idea what she's getting herself into trying to be a normal teenager" Clint would really want her to tell him about Wanda's status here at the compound. Whether or not Clint knew Xander was here in New York was a good question but he was going to be excited to hear that Wanda was happy regardless. It was certainly a change from when she first arrived scared and alone. Here she was young in love and ready to tackle any problems that the world would throw at her. She only wondered if Wanda was going to be able to handle it in the long run. Clint made it look easy but in all honesty a relationship wasn't going to be. Her relationship with Bruce certainly wasn't going to be, if she ever saw him again that is. In a way, it made Natasha jealous that Wanda was able to find the love that had eluded her, but at least Wanda wouldn't have to deal with anything so complicated_

_ As soon as Wanda returned to her room, she stripped off the cloths that she had on and set them aside in a nice safe place wanting to keep them safe for the time being until the day of the date. Xander had sent her several movies that they could go watch, but most of them were franchises Wanda wasn't familiar with and would require watching other movies to understand or were just flatout uninteresting to the young witch. She and Xander eventually settled on a movie called The Martian" but even that was based on process of elimination rather that a real desire to see the movie. She was actually more interested in seeing a movie called Krampus due to it being more cultural, but unfortunately the movie wouldn't be released for a few more weeks, so the two made plans to see that as well for a second or third date, assuming Wanda would actually be able to make those dates. _

_Sitting down on her bed, Wanda curled up in a fetal position resting her head on her gazed out at the lake that sat not to far from the compound; the same lake that the group regularly went to so that they could all hang out together whenever they went outside, like the time they all went out for smores. Wanda couldn't help but smile at the memory; as horrible as she had been that night it was still nice to look back at the moment. It certainly wasn't the last time they all had been together. The only thing Wanda wished that he could change was Pietro being there. Even after all this time she still missed him he would have certainly gotten a kick out of all the woman and the cars that Americans seem to own. It wouldn't surprise her if he stole any of the ones from Avengers tower that Tony loved to stock there. Shame he didn't keep any at the Compound, but he wasn't on active duty anymore so sadly there was no need for any of his cars at the facility. Definitely wouldn't have stopped her brother though. He might have been fast but there was just some thrill that cars gave him and he learned how to hotwire them while they were on the streets of Sokovia_

_The poor girl let out a sigh. She missed her brother but it would do her no good to dwell on his passing. She cherished the time they had together and for now that was more than enough. The past was the past and all she had left was the future, which seemed like a very bright one. For now she should just try and focus on not letting her nerves get the better of her for the time being_

_Wanda did enjoy the peace and quiet but she was far more anxious to actually go on her date with Xander. She still couldn't believe that there was still several days worth of time before the actual date. She blamed it on the fact that Xander had a school life that conflicted with Wanda's technically more free schedule. As a superhero she had loads of free time unless she was on a mission. It was sort of like being a doctor on call, you were free until you weren't. that being said she couldn't blame Xander or anything; he was trying to make a life for himself and he had to put the time in to do that. She was proud of him for that much at least. _

_She still hadn't been able to tell Xander that she was an Avenger and what worried her was the fact she was going to have to tell him eventually. That wouldn't stop her from enjoying the date but it would still weigh on her mind. She didn't want to be worried on her very first real date, aside from being nervous about it being her first date. She wouldn't really count the day at the bench and their meeting for coffee as a first date since they weren't really a couple at the time, but she treasured those times none the less. To alleviate her concerns Wanda spent any free time she had to do research on how to act on a date. Based on some of her research, she would have to do her best not to act in rather disgusting manners that would serve only to drive Xander away. Not that she intended to act distasteful, but she still wanted to be careful. Being in a different country could have that affect on a person. Sure she had been in this country for a few months but Xander grew up in America so there would be no question who the more knowledgeable in social skills were, at least in America. But Wanda was going to make sure that she was going to be the best girlfriend possible regardless of anything and everything that Xander and the world could throw at her. If she could take on an evil robotic meglomaniac and his army then certainly a date couldn't be any harder, right?_

_She wanted more than anything to stay by his side and give him the love he deserved, but she knew that it would be tough once he found out the truth. She decided that that's what she would do; tell him everything after the date, no matter what. she only hoped that she wouldn't end up heat broken by his reaction. People already seemed to be scared of the Avengers in her own country. America might be more accepting of their super heroes but she was a foreigner and different from humanity to begin with thanks to her abilities. Would everything change once her lover knew the truth about her identity? No she couldn't think like that. Xander seemed nice enough and he would certainly give her a good explanation. Besides it was going on sixth months, perhaps he already knew and was just holding it? If that was the case then Wanda was worrying over nothing. Still didn't get rid of her nerves though. Deciding to try and distract herself Wanda pulled out her phone and began surfing the web hoping to find ideas with which to calm herself down or ideas for future dates if this one went well._

That was three days ago and now it was Friday morning. The date was mere hours away (as the couple had decided on a mid morning movie) and Wanda was all dressed up and ready for it. She had barely got any sleep the night before as her nerves kept getting to her. It was here first date after all. It surprised her that she was able to keep calm until today to begin with but she was able to keep herself busy with her training and studying. Of course much of that didn't mean anything now since it was like she had forgotten all of it. She would have talked to the other about her feelings but considering most of them hadn't been in her situation, all they could do was give their advice on what they would do in the same situation and she already went through that when the team found out she was seeing someone it would have just rang hollow. So here she was in front of her mirror in the bathroom for the umpteenth time checking her hair and make up after showering for an insane amount of time (after spending quite a bit of time doing some research on what she should do for makeup on her own) just to make sure it looked alright. She didn't want to add to much, lest it take away from her natural looks, rather than enhance them (something she learned about in her research)and she didn't dare touch her hair which was in her usual style. Not only that she had brushed her teeth and washed her mouth with mouthwash multiple times to make sure that everything was perfect for her date. They may be watching a movie but she still wanted to do her best.

God she was going crazy just thinking about this. The young woman sighed and placed her hands on her sink. She could do this, she could do this she told herself. If she didn't then she was a failure as a woman. Absolutely nothing was going to go wrong on this date. Steve had already promised her that they would only call her in the event of a world shattering emergency and there were not many of those going around lately.

Wait a minute were her hands shaking? "Keep it together Wanda!" Wanda mutter to herself "You can do this!" she said.

After a few more chants, Wanda managed to pull herself together and walk out of her room, heading over to the garage so she could leave. It was going to be quite the trip to the city and she certainly didn't want to wait until the last minute to get there. Thankfully she programmed her GPS to take her to the movie directly so she wouldn't have to worry about looking for it. With every step she took her nerves became all the more unbearable, but there was absolutely no way that she was going to back out of her great challenge yet.

The young woman soon made it to the garage, before hopping on her bike and speeding out of the compound an everlasting smile on her face.

* * *

After a short ride to the main city, Wanda pulled up in front of the movie theater that Xander had sent her the location too. To her surprise it had a small bistro attached to it. More than likely, it was where Xander intended to get some food before the movie. Not that Wanda minded. Xander was likely on a budget and it wasn't like she had extravagant meals every night. Wanda couldn't help but smile as she parked and locked her bike, before walking towards the movie theater entrance. She pulled out her phone intending to text Xander to let him know of her arrive, but before she could she heard his voice. "Wanda!" the young sokovian turned to see Xander walking towards her a dazzling smile on his face. Wanda immediately put her phone back in her pocket and all but sprinted to met her boyfriend. As soon as she was close enough, she leapt at him throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately. In the back of her mind she knew it wasn't the best thing to do, but she had been away from Xander long enough as it is and she missed him. Immediately she felt him respond, their lips melded together in a sensual dance, until the pesky need for air broke them apart.

Wanda pulled away from Xander, a smile beaming on her face. Xander locked at her with a slightly surprised look on his face, before his face broke into a wide smile and he said "I missed you too". Wanda stepped back and took in Xanders appearance. He was wearing a dark blue polo, with a black leather jacket and dark brown jeans and black sneakers. For some reason Xanders appearance made Wanda feel hot and bothered in a way that she had never felt before but she quickly shook it off, not wanted to get distracted. Instead she moved to Xander's side holding her arm out so that Xander could lead her in. just like how she practiced and researched for the whole week. Quick on the uptake, Xander linked his arm with hers and the two walked into the movie theater.

Neither of them noticed a pair of eyes watching them from a dark alleyway across the street.

* * *

As soon as they entered the theater, Wanda was absolutely amazed. The lobby was huge with loads of people walking around, there was a concession stand to get snacks (which made Wanda wonder why there was even a restaurant in the first place but she wasn't going to complain) and she could see many hallways that led to the movies that the people around her would no doubt be watching. She hadn't seen anything like this before in her life. Was there anything else that could possible be so amazing? She kind of felt like a kid in a candy store. Id she and Xander could do more dates like this Wanda would be absolutely ecstatic.

"we still have quite a few minutes until the movie starts." Xander told her causing Wanda to snap out of her awed stupor. She looked at him and nodded, before taking a look around. At the small restaurant attached to the theater, there appeared to be a few empty tables, perfect for a couple on a date. Still holding onto his arm, Wanda dragged her boyfriend to the restaurant where a young woman greeted them. To Wanda's surprise, there was a slight shift in her emotions as soon as she took a closer look at them. She went from bored and annoyed to almost surprised and rather…. Lusty. It was no surprise from there that Wanda realized that this girl intended to flirt with Xander as soon as he got close enough. Involuntarily she tightened her grip on her boyfriends arm. Knowing Xander as she did she didn't have to worry about him being unfaithful, but the idea of him being hit on really rubbed her the wrong way.

And boy she was not disappointed. As soon as She and Xander stopped in front of the other girl, her eyes lit up with wonder and she subconsciously began twirling her locks. It made Wanda almost gag at how pathetic she was being. Didn't this girl see that Xander was taken? She probably thought she had a chance.

"hello there…" the poor girl said sensually, her eyes on Xander, completely ignoring the seething Wanda beside him "May I take you to your table?" Wanda wanted to throttle this girl. But Xander just smiled kindly and clearly sensing Wanda's unease just said "Yes please, my girlfriend and I would like to eat before out movie" much to Wanda's satisfaction, the girls face fell briefly before returning to her professional smile. "Of course. Follow me." She said before leading the two to an empty table. Wanda and Xander sat down, while the girl stated that their waiter would be with them shortly." Wanda stared Daggers at her back until she was out of sight, her eyes swirling with her powers. She may have control, but the idea of some floozy trying to snatch of her boyfriend pissed her off. Xander looked at her a solemn frown on his face "Wanda." She looked at her boyfriend, realizing he was probably concerned and her red glow faded. "You don't have to worry, you're the only one for me" he told her with a warm smile. Wanda had the decency to blush. He read her mins so easily and she was being uncertain all for nothing. She smiled back and nodded "I'm sorry…."

"Don't be." Xander replied "Id feel the same way if our roles were reversed." Wanda felt her heart swell at the honest reply. Xander really was a good man. The two chatted briefly for a few more minutes before a young man approached the table Menus in hand. He handed one to Wanda and the other to Xander. "Hello there my name is Robert and I'll be your server. Shall we get started with some drinks today?" he asked in a polite tone. The couple just ordered some water and Robert went to fetch the drinks.

Wanda glanced at her menu scanning the variety of items that the restaurant had to offer. It wasn't particularly extravagant in any way but there were several items that she liked to eat on the menu. She decided on the salad as she didn't want to be too full. Glancing at Xander she asked "what are you going to get?" she asked him. Xander looked up from his menu "Mozzarella sticks" he replied cheerfully. "I hear that they are cheesy" Wanda giggled at the poor joke, before placing her menu down. " I'm really glad we got to do this Xander." She told him her voice coming out in a small whisper. She wasn't sure what else to say if she was being honest. It wasn't like they could talk about the movie yet since they obviously hadn't seen it. They had conversed over texts several times over the course of the week (mostly about the movie and such) and Wanda didn't want to ask how his class was going for the umpteenth time. She couldn't get tired of hearing that he was improving in his skills but she felt like it would be boring if she kept asking the same questions over and over again. Maybe she could try something different. But what?

"could you tell me a bit about your family?" she asked. In the short time she had known Xander she hadn't once asked about his family. Since they were technically a couple know, it seemed an appropriate question to ask.

Xander nodded. "there isn't much to tell really." He began "My father is a real estate agent and my mother is a veterinarian." He stopped and glanced away, a small wistful smile on his face, before returning his gaze to Wanda "I miss them though. They've been supportive of my dreams to be an artist since I was a child and they taught me the value of hard work. I couldn't really ask for better parents." He said.

Wanda smiled but inwardly, couldn't help but feel sad. Xander already knew about Pietro's death, but how would be feel about finding out that she was an orphan? It was just one more thing that made her feel on edge when she really didn't need to. Sure it wasn't like tell him that she was working with the Avengers but she would have to tell him the specifics because "friends " was a vague answer to the question he was bound to ask. Not to mention she really didn't want to lie to him about anything

Thankfully it would seem that she wouldn't have too, for Robert came back with their drinks, placing waters in front of both Xander and Wanda before asking them "have you decided on what you both would like to eat this afternoon?"

Xander gestured to Wanda to go first. "I'll take the house salad," she said "and one order of Mozzarella sticks." She said winking at Xander." Robert took the order and stated he would be back shortly with their meals. As soon as he left, Wanda took a sip of her water, hoping that Xander wouldn't continue to press the issue. Sadly this was not the case. "and you Wanda? You haven't really mentioned much about yourself since we got together. I know you mentioned that you had a brother, but given what you said about just being him and you for most of your life, I'm going to have to assume…." He trailed off and Wanda sensed he didn't want to continue out of concern that he would be insulting her if he continued his sentence. Wanda couldn't blame him. It was a sensitive subject but he did need to know eventually. Smiling sadly, she glanced down at her lap and clasped her hands together, before taking a hold of her ring and twisting it around her finger, a habit she picked up whenever she was nervous. "If you know that much, then you might of guessed where I am from." Wanda said, before forcing herself to look up at her boyfriend. "Sokovia" Xander replied.

Wanda nodded. "My parents died in a bombing when Pietro and I were just 10 and it was just us on the streets until we met…." She stopped not because she was afraid to explain to Xander that she teamed up with Ultron of all people, which no doubt would be ripping the band aid off faster and harder than expected but because she sensed a sudden shift in the air, her powers piking up malice pointed directly at her. She leaped up from her seat and turned around, just in time to see a man not to far from the restaurant entrance pull a gun out from his pocket and point it directly at her. Training kicking in, Wanda raised her arm, flinging the would be gunman's weapon out of his hand and then shooting a pulse of red mist causing him to fly off his feet and onto the floor.

Fury took a hold of Wanda and all but forgetting about Xander, stomped over to the criminal on the floor. "I try to have a day off…" she began her voice dripping with rage "try to have a semblance of a normal life…." Her eyes glowed red, her powers building within her "but you had to pick today to pull something." She reached the man, who was struggling to crawl away, clearly afraid of her, and trust her arm out red mist waving around her hand threateningly. Unfortunately for her, she didn't notice a second gunman approaching, but she did hear Xander scream "Wanda! Look out!" followed by the bang of a gunshot.

What happened next shattered Wanda's heart….

* * *

**Now thats a cliffhanger! As always leave your thoughts. and remember check out and subscribe to my youtube channel!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello. Back for chapter number 14. I have been wanting to write this chapter for a while, so i hope you enjoy! I also want to let everyone know i now have a youtube channel, so PM me for detail;s if you want to subscribe to my channel!**

** Enjoy the story.**

* * *

To say that Xander was scared was a bit of an understatement. He was just a normal kid who did normal things with nothing special to really make him stand out in a crowd. He was no hero. So it wasn't hard for him to be shocked to see Wanda stand up from her seat at the table so that she could be the one to save him and everyone in this entire complex when two armed gunman appeared to wreck everyone's day. When the first one appeared it was his first instinct to get under the table, even though Wanda took care of him before anything bad could happen. Of course, seeing his girlfriend take care of the situation was completely unexpected; he had never seen anything like it. He had heard rumors of a "witch" joining the Avengers but he never thought for a moment that it would be Wanda Maximoff! She was the one who fought in the battle of Sokovia against that robot a few months ago! Well she had a very good reason not to tell him the truth so he wasn't too angry, he couldn't imagine being a celebrity, but if she was an Avenger then what was she doing with him? He was nobody special. Didn't she deserve to go out with someone more her style? Oh well, given she had just saved him from the potential threat of a gunman, he supposed he could ask her later. The way she moved and the way she fought made her look so elegant and beautiful. He might not be a fighter but she definitely was.

It was from this position that he heard Wanda growl with a ferocity that he did not expect "I try to have a day off…" she began her voice dripping with rage "try to have a semblance of a normal life…." Despite his anxiety, Xander poked his head out from under the table to see Wanda a few yards away her back turned to him as she continued to threaten the poor man. Not that he could feel sorry for him though. "but you had to pick today to pull something."

However, as he began to stand up, believing it safe, a movement out of the corner off his eyes shifted his attention towards the entrance of the complex where he saw a second gunman pointing his weapon right at Wanda's head. His eyes widened and he quickly looked between Wanda and the gunman. Wanda it seemed didn't notice the gunman and before Xander could consider the consequences of his actions, his mouth opened and he let out a panicked shout. "Wanda, watch out!"

That definitely got Wanda's attention for she turned in the direction of his voice, but his had the unintended side effect of getting the gunmans attention. Startled, the gunman swiveled in Xander's direction, the barrel of his gun aimed right at Xander's head! Xander barely had enough time to duck as the gun went off. Xander threw his hands over his head as he fell to the floor like a rock, avoiding the bullet, which embedded itself in the wall. Xander looked where the bullet landed his eyes widened. If he hadn't moved that bullet would have been stuck in his neck. Paralyzed wit fear, Xander just lay on the floor, deciding to wait until Wanda gave the ok to get back up.

* * *

Wanda's eyes blazed with rage as she watched the scene before her. A second gunman shot at her boyfriend! Keeping the first gunman down with her powers, Wanda raised her other Hand, shaking with fury, she focused her power and shot a blast of red mist at the gunman, who went flying off his feet and into the air. Unable to resist the temptation, Wanda began to focus her powers , compressing the mans chest into itself, causing the man to choke as his bones began to be crushed under the weight of Wandas mind. A sickening crack was heard as the mans rib cage snapped in two puncturing his lungs. Growling in disgust,, Wanda flung her wrist to the side and the man followed tumbling into the wall, and slumping to the ground, unconscious. Turning to the first gunman, Wanda growled, "Get out of here!" the man nodded, as the red mist keeping him in place dissipated and he took off running. Wanda ignored him, for her concern was her boyfriend. She ran towards the table Xander was under, only to find him curled up in a fetal position, obviously scared.. Wanda quickly got down on one knee and gently shook Xander to get his attention. "Xander?" she whispered gently. Xander flinched from her touch, but upon realizing that there was no danger, slowly turned his head to look at Wanda. His breathing was quick, clearly still affected by the shock off what just happened. Wanda gave him a smile, trying to tell him it was alright. "Its over." She said moving her hand to his and gripping it tightly. Xander nodded, his face marred by fear. As much as he hated this for affecting his mood, he no longer wanted to go and watch the movie. "would it be alright if we took a walk?"

Wanda nodded, sensing that Xander was to afraid to remain in the theater. She stood up, gently pulling Xander with her. Once he was on his feet. Wanda threw her arms around him and tried her best to comfort the poor boy. Forget telling him she was an Avenger she needed to get him to calm down. "its alright." She whispered in his ear." She then took his hand again and began leading him out of the theater. She could use some fresh air too. Especially since their date was effectively ruined. However before either of them could move a gunshot rang through the air and Wanda felt a piercing pain in her back. She screamed, having just enough clarity to turn and see the same gunman she let go pointing a gun at her head. He must have had a second gun hidden, as Wanda could just make out the outline of a gun on the floor not far away. It was lucky she was in motion when the bullet hit her for the wound , while painful, missed vital spots.

Growling at her stupidity, Wanda shot her hand forward, ready to crush this mans skull in retaliation, but she wasn't fast enough. The man fired a second shot. But to Wandas surprise, she felt Xander push her to the side and she began to fall to the floor. Unfortunately the unexpected motion caused her to flail her arms in an attempt to balance herself. She was unable to regain her footing and she fell to the floor. It was a good thing Xander pushed her down for the bullet went fling past where she had been standing before. However when she looked up, she saw Xander flying towards the ceiling, his eyes wide with terror. Their eyes met and before Wanda could so much as scream, Xander hit the ceiling before his head snapped back and hit the heard surface with a blood freezing bang. Wanda could just barely make out his face as it did so. So many emotions went through his mind. Fear, anger, suffering all passing through him in what felt like a microsecond, before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went out cold.

Gravity then kicked in and his body then fell to the floor and hit the ground with a loud sickening crack. He lay there, broken and unmoving. The last thing that went through his mind before told blackness washed over him was 'Wanda….'

Wanda gasped, her eyes locked on Xander's body, which looked like a rag doll. His head was bleeding, no doubt a result of hitting his head. Fear for him coursed through her veins but that fear turned to hatred and ignoring the wound in her back she stood up, only to see the gunman cackling. "Oh this is too perfect!" he said in a Sokovian accent "I come here hoping to kill you and instead…." He gestured to Xander's body "I suppose its poetic justice. I lost my family to you, you lost someone you love to me." He got ready to fire another shot, obviously hoping to get lucky, but Wanda was faster this time and in the blink of an eye, a red mist shot out of her hand and enveloped itself around the mans head, the man suddenly dropped his gun and fell to his knees, screaming in agony. Wanda was making him see his greatest fear, whatever that was. After a few moments the man passed out, falling to the floor with a look of terror on his face.

With both gunmen taken care of, Wanda scrambled over to Xander's body to make sure he was alright. Wishful thinking considering the circumstances, but it was the only way she could calm her heart. When she was close enough to see the injuries Xander had sustained it almost made her gag. His head wasn't just bleeding, it was gushing red. He must have hit the ceiling harder than she thought. Wanda fell to her knees, pressing her hand on the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Blood stained her hands but she didn't care. Instead she looked around, and screamed "someone call an ambulance!" before looking at Xander. "Hold on! Xander please hold on!"

* * *

Later that day, Wanda, dressed in a hospital gown and patched up after having the bullet removed from her back waited outside the ER. She would have been in her room but Wanda couldn't sit still because of her worry for Xander. After the ambulance arrived, they quickly sped to the nearest hospital with Xander in tow. Wanda had insisted on coming with, partially because she refused to leave Xander and partially because the paramedics insisted she get the bullet removed from her back. That didn't take too long at all, but now that she was out of her situation all she could think about was Xander. He was obviously not out of the woods yet for he was in surgery for what felt like hours. Every passing moment made Wanda feel more and more terrible. The way he flew into the air… that meant that he had been hit by a wave of her powers when she lost her balance, but where was he hit? The thought alone made her nauseous.

To make matters worse, her actions were video taped by many people, even when she was put in the paramedics. That meant that the world saw what she did to those gunman. Excessive? Yes. But she was willing to do anything to protect her loved ones. Xander was no different. But she would unfortunately have to deal with the fallout both from the media and her team. Speaking of her team…

The door to the ER opened and who else should walk in but the Star Spangled Man with a Plan himself, Captain America. Wanda didn't need powers to know that he was rather pissed. Whether it was because Wanda used excessive force or because he was angry that she got hurt and they were friends Wanda wasn't sure but she wasn't going to happy with either outcome. He was followed by Black Widow, who had a much better expression on her face, but that was just because she was hiding it. In any case, Wanda just wished that the floor would just swallow her up. Or that Clint was here. She could only hope that he was, but it was going to be a long trip from Mississippi Steve looked around wildly, before he spotted Wanda sitting in a chair a melancholy look on her face. He stomped over to her and before Wanda could react, Steve pulled her into a hug. This was sort of unlike the captain but he must have felt at least partially responsible for her condition, even though it wasn't really his fault. "thank god you're OK." He said, before pulling away, resting his hands on her shoulders. Wanda shook her head, before looking at her feet. She was far from alright. But Steve wouldn't be able to understand. "I'm not OK Captain," she mumbled. She pulled away from him then stared at Natasha for a brief moment before turning her back on her comrades "How can I be aright when I'm responsible for Xander's condition!" she snapped her voice rising angrily. She stared at her palms which were cleaned prior to her surgery, but she still had blood on her hands regardless of whether it was cleaned up or not. "this was supposed to be a fun day for the both of us and instead Xander was hurt just like Pietro!" OK that was a bit of an exaggeration but the point was that she was unable to protect Xander when he needed her too. And she couldn't bear the thought that he would die because of her. Sure those gunmen were responsible but it was her powers that had him flying into the air, not their bullets. She rounded on the captain who looked ready to speak and roared "Don't tell me that I'm OK because I'm not!" she then turned and stomped away from the two senior avengers ready to burst through the ER door and demand a status update on Xander, when the Doctor herself showed up. Christine Palmer a kind young woman who was the first on the scene once Wanda made it to the hospital. She had assured Wanda that Xander would be in safe hands once he was taken away for surgery but the look on her face made Wanda think the worst. The doctor gave a little yelp upon opening the door and seeing Wanda right outside of it. But she was able to brush it off and return to a more poise demeanor. Wanda however was in no mood to be polite and practically snapped at her. "Is he alright?!" she shouted her eyes blazing with anger and worry.. undaunted, Doctor Palmer ran a hand through her hair before looking at Wanda, then at the other two Avengers walking towards them so they could also hear the news. Doctor Palmer cleared her throat and said "He's stable." She told them gently "but he is still unconscious. We managed to stop the bleeding and stitch him but, but considering what you told me. We are going to run a few tests on him, so he isn't out of the woods yet we still have to determine how much damage he sustained with that head wound of his. He is lucky that all he had besides that was a few broken ribs from when he landed"

Wanda let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. Doctor Palmer was right, Xander could have been shot or killed during this incident, but it was his quick thinking and reflexes that saved his life for the most part.

Xander was safe at least for now. But the doctor had a point; they didn't know the full extent of his injuries but for now he was alive and that's what mattered to Wanda. "Can we see him?" she asked "when he is out of the scan?" her face broke into a sad look, hopeful that the doctor would listen to her pleas. Thankfully, Doctor Palmer nodded "once he is done with the scans you'll be able to see him, but there wont be any guarantee that he will be awake before that. In any case he'll need rest.

Wanda sighed in response. This was going to be a very long day… "I understand" she said biting her lip. Doctor Palmer gave Wanda a warm smile and place a hand on her shoulder. "that boy is lucky to have someone like you care for him." She said. Unable to resist, Wanda returned the smile and thanked the doctor, before returning to her room, Steve and Natasha in tow. Right now there was nothing else they could do but wait.

* * *

The next hour crawled by agonizingly slow for the young Sokovian, who lay in her comfy hospital bed, Natasha by her side with Steve out in the hall awaiting the doctors return. Thankfully, the hospital kept Wanda isolated from a majority of the hospital to keep her out of the public eye as much as possible, but still not to far from Xander, who still appeared unconscious as there was no word from the doctors during the hour. The only good news that came was in the form of a few Police officers who came in to inform Wanda that the courts would handle the would be assassins and neither she nor Xander would need to testify based on the evidence that they had already. That was a relief as Wanda didn't want to deal with that. All she wanted to do was help Xander recover from this ordeal. That being said, the two gunmen were apparently fanatics who blamed Wanda and the others for the destruction of Sokovia, mirroring how Wanda felt about the situation before Clint gave her a pep talk. She just couldn't believe someone had the audacity to try and assassinate her in broad daylight. She could at least console herself with the fact that they couldn't hurt Xander anymore. Other than that she was basically waiting to hear from the doctors about Xander's condition.

"I'm sorry Wanda…" Natasha told the young girl , causing Wanda to look at her friend, who seemed far more somber than usual, not that Wanda could blame her. Natasha spent all that time trying to help her plan the date and it was utterly ruined by a raving lunatic out for revenge against something that Was the fault of a robotic megalomaniac. But it wasn't Natasha's fault that she was in this situation. It wasn't anyone's fault really. If anything it was Wanda's for not being able to handle the situation better. After what happened in Novi Grad she should have known better, but her emotions had gotten the better of her. There was nothing that could be done except learn from it. The problem was, Wanda hoped that she could still keep her relationship with Xander, if he even could forgive her. She was planning on telling him the truth that very moment. She should have told him sooner. All she could do now was hope.

Wanda shook her head. "No Natasha this…" she chocked the full weight of emotions finally causing her to break…. "This is… my fault!" she cried throwing her head in her hands "Xander's hurt and its all my fault. We never should have gone to that theater! We gave those men the exact chance that they needed…"

Before Wanda could continue there was a knock at the door, getting their attention. The two woman looked at the door to see Steve a pensive look on his face. "Doctors here." He said. Eyes widening, Wanda pulled the covers off of her bed and leaped out of it, running out of the room and right past Steve to meet the Doctor. Doctor Palmer stopped as soon as soon as she saw the young woman speed towards her; thankfully Wanda stopped just short of her, but before Doctor Palmer could say a word, Wanda already asked if Xander was OK. "How were the tests?" she asked "Is Xander OK." Doctor Palmer didn't say anything for a moment. Instead she looked behind Wanda and said "I think its best if I talk to your companions about this." She explained gently. It was clear that Whatever it was, she didn't want to explain to Wanda.

Wanda felt her stomach drop like a stone and twist around in a knot. That was definitely something that she didn't want to hear and her eyes flashed dangerously as she gave the doctor a fierce glare, very close to strangling her in anger "What!?" she screeched furiously, her voice carrying across the entire floor. She raised her hands ready to make do on her threat, but before she could Natasha grabbed her from behind in a choke hold and pulled her back ,before bringing her mouth close to Wanda's ear "Not here Wanda!" she whispered "I know you care about Xander but we cannot cause a scene here" Wanda struggled in Natasha's grasp but the woman was stronger than she looked. She didn't care about her image here. Hell she would be ready to quit the Avengers if she had too! No one was going to get between her and Xander! Problem was if she attacked, then Steve would no doubt jump in to save Natasha from Wanda's own onslaught. Wanda would have no trouble defending herself from them both physically and mentally, but there would be no saving innocent civilians if she went all out against her companions and she could not have those deaths on her conscious, so she reluctantly stopped struggling and waited for Natasha to let her go. After a few moments Natasha released her. The Doctor cleared her throat clearly bemused by what she saw, but was doing her best to hide it. It wasn't every day anyone normal interacted with the Avengers after all and there were more important things to worry about at the moment; namely her patient. Instead of questioning the matter, she simply gestured For Steve and Natasha to follow her. Steve looked at Wanda and without any room to argue told her "wait in your room…" with a deep authoritative growl in his tone. It was not unlike how Clint acted with his children when they did something naughty during Wanda's time at the Barton farm

Wanda glared at him in response but said nothing, instead turning around and stomping back to her room, ready to slam the door in response, but was able to collect herself before she lost her temper. Instead she just turned and looked back at the doctor "Get me when he wakes up." She growled threateningly doing nothing to hide the derision in her tone. She was fed up with all the secrecy already. Why wouldn't anyone just tell her what was going on?! Xander was hurt and it was all her fault. She had a right to know the extent of his injuries.

If Doctor Palmer noticed the underlying threat upon her life, she didn't show it, instead opting to gesture for Steve and Natasha to follow her. Silently the Trio left for what Wanda assumed was Xander's room or some medical examination room anywhere where Wanda wasn't permitted to go. Fuming, Wanda walked into her room and sat on her bed, groaning and putting her face in her hands. She hated feeling like this. Completely and utterly helpless. She didn't mind the fact she was being treated like a child since when she thought about it, she was emotionally distressed. But that was the overall point! she was emotionally distressed because she was upset about a lack of knowledge on Xander's condition and no one was telling her anything! It was practically suffocating and all this waiting was making her feel worse! She wouldn't be able to rest until someone told her Xander was going to be alright. Lifting her head and placing her hands on her bed, Wanda leaned back on her bed, shifting her position so that she was lying on her back, her head resting on her pillow and she gripped the sheets tightly, almost to the point where she felt like she was going to rip the fabric right off the bed in her annoyance. With nothing to do but stare at the blank white ceiling, Wanda just waited…. And waited. She didn't feel tired and she was too frazzled to relax whatsoever. Why didn't the Doctor want to talk too her?

"Xander…." She whispered. Before closing her eyes. She closed her eyes. Imagining that she was anywhere else but in the room that felt like a prison.

* * *

A knock on the door startled Wanda out of her thoughts. She snapped her eyes open, sitting up straight in her bed and turned to see Steve wit a uncharacteristically somber look on his face, like there was something that he was dreading. It was a rather odd sight for the young Sokovian and she never though she would see that kind of look on his face at all, since he was usually an optimistic kind of guy. "what's wrong" Wanda asked unable to keep the warble out of her voice. If possible, Steve's face turned even more miserable "Come with me." He muttered. Wanda hopped out of her bed and walked toward the Captain, who turned and walked down the hall, Wanda following him every step of the way. "Your boyfriend is still unconscious." Steve began, "but he is close to waking up according to the Doctor…" he stopped and looked even worse than he did before. It was like the more he thought about whatever it was he had to say, the more he didn't want to.

Wanda resisted the urge to read the captains mind and practically growled "I want to see him Steve! He is my boyfriend and I have been going crazy just waiting for answers. Don't forget that I blame myself for whatever condition he is in and I cant rest until I know that he is OK!" that made Steve stop in his tracks for a brief moment, before he resumed on the path he was taking Wanda "that's why the Doctor wants you to see him Wanda." He told her his voice barely above a whisper. Wanda didn't question his words, even for a minute. Xander was awake and she was on her way to see him. That was good enough for her. Whatever it was, she was sure Xander would tell her.

The two made their way to a hospital room, where Natasha and Doctor Palmer were standing outside of, clearly waiting for the others. Natasha sensed that they were in a similar mood that Steve was in, she could practically feel the dread in the air. Whatever it was, Wanda was starting to get the feeling that it wasn't good. She walked right up to the Doctor, who stiffened as Wanda closed in on them. Wanda's eyes narrowed. "What?!" she snapped at the doctor, completely forgetting about manners. "my Leader said that you wanted to see me, so what is it you want to tell me?"

To her surprise, Doctor Palmer shook her head "go inside. Mr. Dawson is waiting for you." She said though it sounded like she loathed having to do so. Wanda ignored her and brushed past her, entering the room closing the door as she did so.

Inside, she saw none other than Xander lying down in his hospital bed his head wrapped in bandages, but his eyes blinking open, as if he had just woken up perhaps disturbed by Wanda's entrance. Wanda could help but run towards the poor boy and draw him into her arms, crying for the first time since she had seen him. "Oh Xander!" she cried burying her face into his chest "I'm so glad you are OK!" she then pulled away from him and gently cupped his face, looking into his eyes with a small smile on her face.

Xander's gaze was disoriented as he tried to focus on Wanda's face, but the moment he did, his face broke into a wide smile. "Wanda…." He said

Or at least he tried too. For when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out, making Wanda's eyes widen in horror.

* * *

**Now thats a cliffhanger! Whats wrong with Xander? you'll just have to wait and see. As always leave your thoughts. and remember check out and subscribe to my youtube channel!**


	15. Note

**Hello everyone. Im sorry for being gone for so long, but im going through a stressful depression and I cant bring myself to write anymore at the moment, or do anything productive for that matter. I cant say i'll be writing anytime soon or even if i will return to it. I just dont enjoy anything anymore unless it helps me escape reality**

**I hope you understand**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello. Back for chapter number 15. Sorry for the wait things have not been kind to me lately, so I hope you enjoy! I also want to let everyone know I now have a youtube channel, so PM me for details if you want to subscribe to my channel!**

** Enjoy the story.**

* * *

Xander seemed to come to the same conclusion for when he couldn't hear himself speak his eyes matched Wanda's and he held his throat clawing at it desperately as if in an attempt to pull any sort of sound out of it. That's when for the first time that morning Wanda noticed that not only was Xander's head bandaged, he also had stitches going along his neck. What happened? She hadn't noticed that before. realizing that only the doctor, who was currently standing behind her, would be the only one capable of answering her questions, the young girl did what she could to comfort the person she cared most about she grasped Xander's head in her hands, giving him a chaste kiss on his lips before saying "don't worry, everything is going to be ok…" but deep down, she didn't believe it, and she dare not read his mind to see if he believed it either, no matter how much she wanted to find out; it was definitely not the time. Wanda then let go off Xander and leapt off the bed. Turning to the door, she screamed "Doctor Palmer!" the doctor came running in, but stopped in her tracks when she saw the hateful glare the young Avenger was giving her. Wanda grit her teeth viciously and stomped right up to the doctor, grabbing her by the collar, seething with rage. She pointed a finger in Xander's direction. "what happened to him?! Why cant he speak?! What happened to his neck? TELL ME!" she shrieked her voice breaking in agony. She might have been attracting the attention of everyone one the floor right now but she didn't care. All that mattered was the boy lying in the bed behind who couldn't even so much as breath without remaining silent

"Wanda!" Steve screamed at the troubled girl, who didn't so much as blink or break eye contact with the doctor, but let go of her, tears glistening in her eyes, before she turned to look at a distraught Xander "What happened…." She repeated calmly, with her voice breaking slightly. No she had to be strong. Just looking at Xander showed her that. If she broke down now then she didn't know if she could handle Xanders reaction

Doctor Palmer sighed heavily, running a hand down her face before she began to tell Wanda what happened. "We discovered a bullet wound in Xander's neck, located right under the vocal cords. By some miracle, it only hit said cords and thankfully hit any vital spots otherwise…." She trailed off, not needing to continue. Wanda flinched. Shot? Xander had been SHOT?! But how? She was with him the whole time and there was never once a time where he seemed to be shot, so how…. Wanda gasped remembering when Xander had pushed her down. She had been in the process of unleashing her fury on the gunman when Xander pushed her down. Was it possible when she discharged her powers that she sent the bullet into Xander's neck around the same time he went flying? Which meant…. Her eyes began to fill with tears, her vision blurring as the realization sank in.

Xander's condition may have been her fault all along. The dam broke and Wanda's face became wet with tears. Unable to bear the thought of turning to look at Xanders face, much less wanting to read his thoughts to see what he thought of the situation Wanda did the only onther thing she could think of to do. She turned heel and ran out of the room, rushing past her two comrades and down the corridor until she was back into the lobby and out of the door to the hospital. She entered the cold damning outside world, where a harsh wet downpour was currently underway. The water soaked her completely; within a matter of seconds Wanda looked like she just crawled out of a swimming pool but it didn't matter to her. She just kept running as far away as she could her tears mixing with the rainwater and blurring her eyesight until she hit a slippery slope and she tumbled forward. The young girl fell to the ground but was able to catch herself, landing on her hands and knees. Thanks to just being in a hospital gown Wanda felt the asphalt and dirt of the hospital road dig into her delicate skin, but she didn't care. She hurt Xander and nothing was going to change it.

Wanda emitted a pulse of energy which devastated the road around her, as she let out an agonized scream, letting the world know of her pain as she curled up on the ground and wailed. She hadn't felt like this since Pietro died and those old wounds just continued to reopen based on the fact that while she couldn't save Pietro and therefore it wasn't her fault, Xander on the other hand was her fault. Regardless of whether or not her powers or the overwhelming amount of injuries to his head and neck were the true cause of his misfortune the fact remained that being with her was the direct cause of his current situation.

By the time Steve found her, she was still screaming.

* * *

3 days had passed since Wanda heard the news about Xander's condition. In that time Wanda was discharged from the hospital not long after she ran out the door (it took a lot of coaxing from Steve to get her back to the hospital so that she didn't catch a cold and it was hard enough to talk to the distraught young woman without her blasting him with her powers in a feeble attempt to get him as far away from her as possible) and immediately taken back to the Avengers compound for the remainder of her recovery. Needless to say, despite recovering physically, Wanda's mental state was left in shambles. She barely spoke a word after Steve found her and practically ate even less. She didn't even bother seeing Xander at all before she left. Not even to say goodbye. Steve and Natasha had to relay the message to him even though they loathed the idea of Wanda ignoring someone who clearly thought the world of her, at least as far as they knew. When they told him, it was clear that he was in agony, but they refused to ask whether it was because Wanda left without saying goodbye or because may have been responsible for his injuries Due to the extent of his injuries Xander's stay in the hospital would be even longer than Wanda's, as Doctor Palmer insisted that Xander remain under supervision until the full extent of his injuries were monitored and documented. Being the kind hearted person he was, Steve decided to check up on Xander during visiting hours, knowing that he would want to hear about Wanda, and at the very least, Steve could keep Wanda updated once she was willing to feel better. As it stood Wanda ignored everything that was said to her.

Wanda remained in her room most of the day never even leaving it. She ignored any attempts from the rest of the team to get her out of the room, whether it be for food or leisure. Natasha was the only one willing to bring Wanda any food, after the incident with Vision, the android never approached Wanda's room unless it was an emergency, plus he was wise enough to know that there was little he could do to get Wanda out of her depressed state. Steve just never entered her room on the basis of the fact that it would be impolite and like Vision didn't want to incur her wrath. Being the only one brave enough to enter Wanda's room wasn't exactly something to be proud of. Natasha had grown to care for Wanda like a little sister, even though the other girl had stolen her jacket. Seeing the young woman so utterly broken spoke volumes to Natasha and it was hard watching the poor girl destroy herself and being unable to do anything to help

That's where Wanda currently found herself. Still dressed in her pajamas, after haven taken an hour long shower for no other reason than to have a semblance of the feeling of drowning, the poor girl was splayed out on her bed, her eyes dull with depression as she stared at the white on the ceiling, which served as the blank canvas that was her broken heart . She couldn't stop blaming herself for what had happened to Xander. All she could think about was that Xander would no longer be able to have a normal life ever again never again would she be able to hear the sound of his voice; she had stolen that from him. Sure her life was also irrecoverably changed by the fact that she was experimented on by Hydra, which gave her telekinetic powers; the difference was that Wanda had volunteered to do so. Xander didn't get so lucky. How could she ever face him again? It bothered her that she hadn't read his mind to see what he thought of his situation, specifically what he thought of her, but she couldn't bring herself to face him. How could she? She was afraid he would blame her and never want to see her again. She might be a superhero, but even she couldn't handle that kind of rejection from someone she cared about. Was he even still at the hospital? No Wanda didn't want to think about it. All it did was cause her even more pain, pain that she couldn't bare. The only comfort that she had aside from the meager amount of food that her teammates gave her was sleeping, but that only last for so long and she ended up back in reality. She even awoke thinking she would go and see Xander, only to remember his condition and her fault in it. It was torture and she could barely cope with it. What was the point of living when she ruined the life of someone she loved most and couldn't do anything to fix it?

She kept replaying the moment in her head, when Xander pushed her to the ground. She had thought the bullet had went past her and it must have, but she hadn't taken into account the fact that she had been using her powers at the time. The bullet must have been caught in her hex and when she flailed, it must have been directed in a way that caused the bullet to get lodged in Xanders neck around the same time he was launched in the air in the chaos. Which would explain what Steve and Natasha would later tell her after they found her outside the hospital.

_Steve and Natasha watched helplessly as Wanda rushed past them and out of the room, looking very much like a child who had been told their world was ending. Which in a way it was. Wanda's friend had been hurt and there was little if anything that could fix what had happened. She was so young too; no one should have to go through the things that Wanda had already suffered through yet here she was trying to live a life the best she could with the hand that she was dealt. But just how much heartbreak could one person be able to take before they broke completely?_

_Steve was just about ready to take off after the young Witch, when Natasha grabbed him by the arm, causing the former soldier to glance at the redheaded assassin with a questioning look in his eyes. Natasha, to his surprise, was looking at him with a sympathetic gaze and she shook her head sending him a silent message that Wanda needed to be alone for a bit and it wouldn't be that hard to track her down if she did leave the hospital anyway. " we need to get all the information about Xander that we can; if theres a chance that it wasn't her fault we might be able to calm her down a little" she said gently "Wanda's going to need to blow off some steam as it is and im sure neither of us want to be around her if that's the case"_

_Steve furrowed his eyebrows, before shaking his head "I understand that Nat, but someone needs to be there for her; if she does cause damage she might not be fully aware of it. Get the info from the Doctor, ill go after Wanda and take her home." He said before wrenching his arm free of the red head and took off, going after the wayward Sokovian._

_Natasha sighed before turning back to the Doctor, folding her arms while giving the young woman a "make this quick and detailed" expression, though she knew Doctor Palmer would do her job well, having proven that as much so far. Maybe it was just because she was worried about their newest recruit, but Natasha just wanted to get everything she possibly could just to alleviate Wanda of her stress, though it was more likely she would just take it to her grave at this point with all the baggage she had. Just when she was starting to be les guilty about her brother's death too._

_After a small awkward moment, Doctor Palmer cleared her throat ands moved towards a small xray, placing several charts on it and turning the machine on. Natasha was greeted with several images that looked like a brain scan (or rather two, one of Xanders and what could have been a normal one) and what appeared to be Xanders neck showing the bullet wound. She could tell the difference almost immediately; the normal brain showed activity where the brains speech center would be. Xanders on the other hand appeared to not have any activity at all. It was completely blank save for what maybe have been some damage. Probably from where he hit his head, Natasha was able to deduce that rather quickly having studied human anatomy during her training in the red room, but decided to see what the Doctor Palmer had to say since she was the only one of the two to actually possess a medical degree._

_"As you can see here, M's Romanoff" Doctor Palmer began, gesturing towards the picture that depicted Xander's frontal lobe "Mr. Dawsons frontal lobe appears to suffered some damage due to the events at the theater, but at the same time shows no activity" she pointed to a spot showing said damage on the screen. Natasha frowned taking in the information but she had a few questions of her own._

_"Is it possible that the two events are related?" Natasha asked hopefully. Doctor Palmer shook her head, looking like she was about the loathe the answer that she was going to give the red head spy "Unfortunately, its not likely, Brain wave patterns change when an individual exercises or meditates, but when someone is active there is still some activity. In Xander's case, there is none at all. Even with the damage, there would still be some activity, but there isn't, so its likely m's Maximoff's powers had some affect on his brain, but I cant say for sure if it completely wiped out his ability to speak or if the gunshot wound had any affect either; for all we know this could be temporary and just a result of exposure to M's Maximoff's abilities, but if they do return in time, his vocal cords are damaged so he wont be able to speak either way."_

_Natasha's eyes widened in horror at the doctors words. Oh Wanda was not going to like that. Having been exposed to Wanda's hypnotic capabilities herself, Natasha was aware that most of the time such instances were only temporary; only a few minutes after being exposed, the illusions wore off. The problem was that all those times Wanda had voluntary control of what she was doing, as opposed to her involuntary actions during the attempted assassination. That meant that Wanda in a matter of life or death had essentially either mentally or physically crippled Xander for life._

So on top of having his head injury and gunshot wouldn't, Xander would never be able to speak again and no matter what happened, it was essentially Wandas fault either way. Steve had tried to tell her that Xander was lucky to have even survived the gunshot wound as it was but Wanda had refused to listen, still traumatized by her role in the events. The poor Sokovian was still in shock and likely wouldn't listen to anyone for quite some time.

The girl let out heavy sigh and rolled over, trying to relax. Hard to do when your mind is constantly being assaulted by guilt and pain. No matter what mental discipline she put herself through, her mind continued to Wander back to Xander and his fate. It made her stomach twist and her heart ache. Wanda clenched the sheets tightly gritting her teeth as Xander's face continued to flash in her mind before it finally overwhelmed her and she grabbed her pillow throwing as hard as she could at the wall, the pillow slamming into the wall with the force of a kitten pouncing. Without missing a beat, Wanda leapt off her bed and made her way towards the wall, tears spilling down her face as she began punching it as hard as she could, completely losing control of her emotions, ignoring the sound of the wall vibrating at the impact of her fist, relishing in the bruising of her delicate skin, as she continued to punch the wall until her knuckles began to bleed. She persisted until her legs became weak and she crumbled, falling to her knees and letting out a broken wail. First her parents then her brother and now Xander. Why was it that everyone close to her had to die or get hurt. Yeah she should consider herself and Xander lucky because at least he wasn't dead but she might as well have killed him. It was all her fault.

Wanda buried her face in her hands as she continued to cry not caring if anyone heard her cries; nobody was coming for her anyway since they knew that she wanted her space. Or so she thought as not more than a few moments later, she could hear the sound of footsteps as someone entered her room and she felt two hands on her shoulders. Wanda stiffened, before lifting her head to see, much to her surprise, Vision, who had a sad look on his face knelling beside her like an old friend trying his best to provide her with what little comfort he could. Quite surreal, considering his lack of emotion (as far as she knew), but at the moment Wanda didn't care and she threw herself in his arms, crying on his shoulder until she had no more tears to cry.

They stayed like that for a little while until Wanda finally decided she had enough crying but she still stayed in Visions comforting warmth. She never thought she would be in this situation with the Vision, at least outside of what happened in the final moments during the battle of Sokovia. It was embarrassing, as was the fact she was crying in his arms right now, but at the moment, Wanda didn't care. Whether she realized it or not. She needed this.

"Wanda" Vision began, "I cant say I understand what it is you are going through, but know that I am here for you" he said

Wanda lifted her head to meet Visions gaze, her bloodshot brown eyes meeting the androids synthetic green gaze and for a moment she found herself lost in his eyes, but quickly shook the feeling of upon the realization she was still in the visions embrace. Blushing lightly she pushed away from the Vision and stood to her feet, before turning her back on her ally, walking towards the window.

Wanda gazed at the lake, wishing she could just disappear. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, as if holding herself would provide the same comfort the Vision did "Please Leave…" she whispered melancholy. "I just want to be alone right now…."

Vision wouldn't understand. He could never understand, being the android with no real heart. The only person that she would ever truly be able to confide in, the only person who could ever really understand her was dead.

Wanda heard the Vision leave, but didn't bother to say anything else. Her knuckles were still bleeding slightly, but she didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. Without saying a word she made her way back to her bed and curled on top of the covers, her eyes returning to the dull look she had before she broke down.

* * *

The Vision made his way to Steve's Office, Wanda's demeanor on his mind. Despite being a robot and therefore not fully capable of understanding the dynamics of human emotion. He was able to see and understand that Wanda was in deep pain and try as he might, the Vision was certainly not capable of helping her. It seemed to the vision that whatever was plaguing her was something that only she would be able to break out of, but there had to be something that could be done to help her. Perhaps the good Captain would be able to assist in finding that solution. Perhaps speaking to Clint would raise Wanda's spirits. It seemed that had helped the young girl immensely before. It was immediately apparent that the two shared a very close bond and that familial connection might be just what Wanda needed right now, if nothing else could help her, but sadly Even the Vision knew that it wasn't an entirely feasible plan given Clint's retirement and it certainly would be fair to him to keep dragging him out of retirement to hel Wanda when she really needed to help herself. She was so young and didn't deserve everything that happened to her. But it would be best to run this by the captain to avoid any conflicts. Wanda might not like it but she needed help. No one here was able to get through to her, which meant if Vision was correct, only one person would be able to help break Wanda from the spell she was under. His first instinct was Clint, but the man had already done enough and didn't need to be uprooted from his life every time Wanda was having a crisis and the problem was bigger than that. Wanda needed to confront the person responsible for causing her this pain in the first place, seeing as how Steve was the one visiting Wanda's lover, perhaps he could convince her to go to see him. Wanda might be going through grief but she wasn't heartless to those she cared about. The problem was that she had to see that. Oh what to do what to do?

Wanda has been Visions closest friend since his "Birth" and he cared very much about her, so he felt it was his duty as a friend to help her,

Vision soon found himself outside steves office, where he found the Captain looking over some reports. "captain?" Vision said softly getting the displaced soldiers attention. Steve looked up, placing his papers down on the table in front of him and looking at the naïve android in front of him. "what is it Vision?" Steve asked. Vision looked at the captain solemnly "I worry about Wanda, he deadpanned to the captain "she is under a large amount of stress because of what happened on her date. Is there nothing that we can do to assist her in her hour of need?"

Steve frowned. He was trying. Because he felt responsible for Wanda he wanted to make sure he could give her some good news about Xander as well as keep Xander updated about Wanda. But there was little that he could do. Wanda wasn't going to listen to him or anyone for that matter. The only person that she could listen to in order to get some help or closer was Xander and she absolutely refused to see him; going to the hospital was just too painful since she considered the entire situation her fault to begin with. This was one of the times were Steve wished Pietro had survived the battle of Sokovia since only he knew Wanda better than anyone else knew at this point, but that was wishful thinking and it wouldn't help Wanda in the slightest. Even if he was alive, he doubted Pietro would even be able to help since Wanda was never put in a situation where she was directly responsible for someone's pain. The absolute closest was when she sent Banner on a rampage but most [people had gone on to blame the Hulk on that rather than Wanda since she was behind the scenes.

His first thought was to contact Clint to see if he couldn't get through to Wanda but that wasn't a long term solution since Wanda had to learn to cope with things without having clint coming in to save the day every time she was upset, not to mention it wasn't a very practical thing to do in the long run. She was so upset about everything that she wouldn't leave her room, much less leave the facility…

Steve's eyes widened, and a grin took over his face. Maybe there was something that he could do, but he had to talk to quite a few people to get it done. The only question was would those people allow him to do what needed to be done in order to better help the young girl going through this mess. It might help to be sure but whether or not Wanda would accept this was another matter entirely. But if there was one person he knew who could pull some strings legally, it was Anthony Edward Stark. "I have an idea Vision, why don't you go get the hangar prepared; I have a feeling that we are going to need it." Vision nodded and took off to deal with the task at hand. With that Steve picked up his phone and got to work with what he needed to do. The phone rang for a few seconds before the call went answered "Pepper Potts office" a woman who was obviously a secretary answered "to who am I speaking too?"

* * *

The next thing Wanda knew she was still lying on her bed, the minutes turning into hours which felt like seconds too her but it didn't matter. Nothing was going to pull her from her stupor anytime soon so what did it matter to her if the day went by without her notice.

Or at least that's what she thought, until a soft knock at her door caught her attention. Turning over in her bed, she gazed towards her door, only for her to abruptly sit up her eyes widening in horror. Standing at her door with a sad smile on his face was none other than Xander Dawson, his eyes shining with love.

"Wanda" he mouthed

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** As always leave your thoughts. and remember check out and ask to subscribe to my youtube channel!**


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